U.S. Postal Service To Study Possible Closures

• {West Virginia}...The U.S. Postal Service says annual mail volume has declined by more than 43 billion pieces in the past 5 years and is continuing to decline. Total first-class mail has dropped 25 percent and single piece first-class mail, letters bearing postage stamps, has declined 36 percent in the same time frame. The agency lost $8.5 billion last year and is facing an even larger deficit this year. Even when the economy fully recovers, the Postal Service does not expect mail volume to return to previous peak levels, and is projecting annual deficits for the foreseeable future. The Postal Service says it may close more than 250 mail processing facilities across the country. Four mail-processing facilities in West Virginia are on the list: Bluefield, Clarksburg, Parkersburg and Petersburg.