Prayers For Atlantic City As Closings, Layoffs Loom

English: Atlantic City (NJ) – The boardwalk in a rainy day (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ATLANTIC CITY – Members of the clergy locked arms as they led a march of about 400 Unite Here Local 54 members in “a prayer vigil for Atlantic City’s service economy” on Wednesday night.

“This is union territory,” the casino workers chanted as they marched along New Jersey Avenue amid car horns honking in support. Many held signs, including Linda Bragg, 56, of Atlantic City, who works at Bally’s. Hers read: “Atlantic City – Broken Promises.”

“We don’t want to be a forgotten town,” she said. “I grew up with all these people. We made millions for the state. It’s really heart-wrenching. A mess.”

The march, on the eve of three planned casino closures, started between the Revel and Showboat casino hotels on the Boardwalk at 6:30 and ended more than an hour later at New Shiloh Baptist Church on Atlantic Avenue. Several pastors and bishops held a prayer service in support of the employees, many of whom are members of their churches.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20140821_Prayers_for_Atlantic_City_as_closings__layoffs_loom.html#OST66wvzBszPrqpJ.99

Reading Area Mail Slowed By Post Office Moves

USPS service delivery truck in a residential area of San Francisco, California (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mail delivery has been slowed in the Reading area due to the recent termination of mail processing in the city, but a U.S. Postal Service spokesman said Wednesday that the delays should be temporary.

The mail that used to be processed at the Gus Yatron Postal Facility, 2100 N. 13th St., is now being handled in a Harrisburg facility.

The change was part of the Postal Service’s nationwide cost-cutting efforts, which include the closure of hundreds of mail processing sites.

The Postal Service no longer has the mail volume to justify keeping those facilities open, officials have said.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=485891

United States Postal Service Slowing Down To Save Money

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So it looks like the Slowskys may have a new company to shill for soon.  Those DSL loving turtles may soon be able to work for the United States Postal Service (USPS).

According to recent revelations from the USPS, you will need to start mailing your letters a day or two earlier in order for them to arrive on time.  This spring, first-class mail will take a day or two longer to reach its destination.  About half of the mail processing centers in the US will be closed to save money.  You can forget mailing a letter and having it delivered the next day.  In addition, stamp prices will rise a penny to .45 cents, starting January 22nd.

Along with the mail processing center closings, 3,700 post office locations are slated to be closed and up to 100,000 USPS employees could be furloughed.  The USPS is billions of dollars in the red!

Eliminating Saturday mail delivery is still under consideration!  You can expect more fees and even slower delivery times for bulk mail and periodicals too!

America’s Disappearing Restaurant Chains

There is a school of thought that says the restaurant business is always a good business because people need to eat. A glance at the sales of many of America’s largest restaurant chains over the past decade quickly dispels that myth.

Using data provided by food industry research firm Technomic, 24/7 Wall St. has looked at the 10 restaurant chains with the greatest decline is sales from 2001 to 2010. In every case, sales have fallen 60% or more…

To find out who the 10 chains are, click here: http://money.msn.com/business-news/latest.aspx?post=3b851ddb-d3b2-4867-92a3-07abc068523b

Harrisburg Mayor Gets Poor Marks For Keeping Low Profile

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The Harrisburg Patriot has given Mayor Linda Thompson a very public chiding in today’s editorial due to her public absence during Harrisburg’s water main crisis that shut down state, county and city government, the school district, HACC and local businesses. 

Harrisburg’s main water line was accidentally ruptured and released thousands of gallons of water into a brownfield site near Cameron Street.  Millions of gallons of drinking water a day were lost due to the break and everything in Harrisburg came to an abrupt halt.  There was concern about having adequate water supplies for fire stations and Harrisburg Hospital.  The entire city could have been without water had this situation not been handled quickly and efficiently.

While the mayor was doing things behind the scenes, her lack of visibility has raised some eyebrows.  Mayor Thompson held no news conference until Wednesday.  The crisis occurred on Sunday and city residents have boiled water for several days.