USPS nixes 'Dear Santa' letter response

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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NORTH POLE, Alaska, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- The U.S. Postal Service, in a Grinch-like move, said it no longer will forward "Dear Santa" letters to Santa's letter-writing elves in the North Pole, Alaska.

To try to keep alive the 55-year tradition of volunteers answering letters to Santa, North Pole Mayor Doug Isaacson called on Alaska's congressional delegation to intervene, saying the Postal Service is "running roughshod" over the city of North Pole, the Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner reported Wednesday.

"What Grinch would conceive of something so sinister?" Isaacson said, referring to the Dr. Seuss character who tried to steal the Christmas spirit. "We are known worldwide for being special because of our association with Christmas. Businesses and civic organizations gear up for this. That's when we're able to really demonstrate the spirit of Christmas."

The letters -- as many as 150,000 -- will still make their way to the North Pole post office, USPS spokesman Ernie Swanson said. What happens afterward is uncertain, he said.

"It's become a privacy issue," Swanson said of concerns raised about a tot's information falling into the wrong hands. "There's been concern on the part of outsiders about the Postal Service just handing out this information to people and what could happen."

Swanson said an incident on the U.S. East Coast prompted the change. He said he was unaware of any problems with the North Pole operation.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, wrote a letter to the postmaster general asking that the North Pole tradition be preserved.

"Children across the world will be anticipating a letter from Santa this Christmas," she wrote. "I believe that a small action by the Postal Service to continue the tradition ... could go a long way to bring joy to these children and their families."

[POSTMAN]

This is very naughty.

[POSTMAN]

Ohnand there is this as well.

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SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- The push is on to make sure your child's letters to Santa make it to the North Pole.

The US Postal Service announced it was dropping the "Operation Santa" program after a postal worker discovered that one of the volunteers who wrote letters back to children was a registered sex offender.

It's a holiday tradition that makes the season special to kids across the country.

"She figures out all the things she wants," said Brian Hilgers, whose little girl writes letters to Santa. "She's got 15 things on the list right now, and she's going to update it later."

For more than 50 years, the Postal Service has sent letters addressed to Santa to North Pole, Alaska, a small town that prides itself on the Christmas spirit. Volunteers help St. Nick write back to the children, and their letters are postmarked from the North Pole.

"I was floored," said 15-year-old Lauren Clement, who used to write to Santa every year. "Every time he would 'call,' I would almost pee my pants. It was just so amazing."

Parents were disgusted to find out a sex offender had infiltrated the system that brings joy to so many children.

"It's absolutely more than disgusting," said Hilgers. "It's the worst thing in the world."

Now, the Postal Service says generically addressed letters to "Santa Claus, North Pole," will no longer be forwarded to the volunteers in Alaska, which is what has happened in the past.

"I'm sad," said another parent, Laura Jorden. "I'm sad that the people who do so much good for other people have their work ruined by one person."

"Operation Santa" volunteers are quickly trying to come up with an alternative, so children's letters will still make it to the North Pole.

But until that happens, parents will have to be creative.

Obviously, they're not going to talk about sex offenders with their little ones," said soccer mom Patty Sapp. "They're probably just going to have to create something a little bit more magical, somehow, some way."

[POSTMAN]

Don't panic,it's back on

Senator: USPS to resume North Pole Santa letters

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An Alaska senator says the U.S. Postal Service is resuming a program allowing volunteers to respond to letters sent to Santa Claus in care of the North Pole, Alaska, post office.

Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Friday that Deputy Postmaster General Pat Donahoe told her in a phone call the agency has reconsidered its decision to not allow volunteers to answer the letters.

The program was suspended over privacy concerns.

Calls to the Postal Service were not immediately returned.

Murkowski says Donahoe said the program would resume in North Pole, but with some new security measures in place to protect the identities of children.

[POSTMAN]

North Pole hacked off at USPS

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According to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, the U.S. Postal Service will postmark holiday letters requesting a North Pole postmark in Anchorage this year to save money and hassle for its Fairbanks office. That news has North Pole, a town that depends on holiday-related mythology, pretty mad. North Pole Mayor Doug Isaacson told the News-Miner, "It's ridiculous." Isaacson said that postmarking the letters in Anchorage is misleading and, "at least Fairbanks isn't that far away." Read more here. Alaska Beat wonders why the perennially cash-strapped USPS doesn't just stamp letters requesting the holiday postmark wherever they're first received. Tucson, Fort Collins, Marquette, Atlanta...what's the difference? Also, in other Santa-related, North Pole news, the Postal Service is enacting strict, costly security measures for its program to send children's letters to Santa's elves across the country, perhaps causing the demise of a volunteer letter-answering service in North Pole more than half a century old. Postal Service officials say the new policy is needed because of security concerns that children's addresses may fall into the hands of child predators. Mayor Isaacson is calling on Alaska's congressional delegation to rein in the Postal Service, which Isaacson believes is "running roughshod" over the city of North Pole.