Mail newspaper deliveries change

Due to the federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act and its required implementation locally by the U.S. Postal Service, the Portales and Clovis post offices no longer can provide same-day mailed service of the Portales News-Tribune and the Clovis News Journal.

We were told that since the local post offices are not 24-hour business mail entry units, the local staff cannot accept our newspaper mailing until 10 a.m. Before, we could deliver papers to the post office by 4 a.m. and they would be delivered the same day. Now, however, all local mail has left the local post office by 10 a.m., so our 410 mail subscriptions won’t go out until the next day.

This change creates an additional delay for Saturday and Sunday papers, because they won’t be accepted for mailing until 10 a.m. the next Monday, and won’t be mailed until Tuesday mornings.

We have contacted the regional postal headquarters in Albuquerque about the problems this creates for our customers. We were told the directive is mandated by Congress in all areas that do not have access to a 24-hour business entry facility. The nearest ones are Lubbock, Amarillo and Albuquerque, and we would have to deliver mail copies to those post offices first before the papers were returned to Clovis and Portales for delivery. That isn’t a viable option as it would not eliminate the delay our mail customers are now experiencing.

To offset the delay, mail customers are welcome to call and ask for Circulation at 575-763-3431 or 800-819-9925. Tell them you are a paid mail subscriber and would like to receive a password to view the electronic edition of their paper online. There is at no additional cost.