Door-to-Door Search for Suspected Cop Killer













More than 100 police officers were going door-to-door and searching for new tracks in the snow in hopes of catching suspected cop-killer Christopher Dorner overnight in Big Bear Lake, Calif., before he strikes again, as laid out in his rambling online manifesto.


Police late Thursday night alerted the residents near Big Bear Lake that Dorner was still on the loose after finding his truck burning earlier in the day.


San Bernardino County Sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman said authorities can't say for certain that he's not in the area. More than half of the 400 homes in the area had been searched by police as of late Thursday. Police traveled in two-man teams.


Bachman urged people in the area not to answer the door, unless they know the person or see a law enforcement officer in uniform.


After discovering Dorner's burning truck near a Bear Mountain ski resort, police discovered tracks in the snow leading away from the vehicle. The truck has been taken to the San Bernardino County Sheriffs' crime lab.


Read More About Chris Dorner's Allegations Against the LAPD


Bachman would not comment on Dorner's motive for leaving the car or its contents, citing the ongoing investigation. Police are not aware of Dorner's having any ties to others in the area.










Chris Dorner: Ex-LA Cop Wanted in Killing Spree Watch Video









Los Angeles Manhunt: Ex-Cop Christopher Dorner Sought for Killing Spree Watch Video





She added that the search in the area would continue as long as the weather cooperates. About three choppers were being used overnight, but weather conditions were deteriorating, according to Bachman.


"He could be anywhere at this point," said San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon, who is expected to address the media later this morning.


Dorner, 33, a former Los Angeles police officer and Navy reservist, is suspected of killing one police officer and injured two others Thursday morning in Riverside, Calif. He was also accused of killing two civilians Sunday. And he allegedly released an angry "manifesto" airing grievances against police and warning of coming violence toward cops.


In the manifesto Dorner published online, he threatened at least 12 people by name, along with their families.
"Your lack of ethics and conspiring to wrong a just individual are over. Suppressing the truth will leave to deadly consequences for you and your family," Dorner wrote in his manifesto.


One passage from the manifesto read, "I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty."


"I never had the opportunity to have a family of my own," it read. "I'm terminating yours."


Hours after the extensive manhunt dragged police to Big Bear Lake, CNN's Anderson Cooper said Dorner had sent him a package at his New York office that arrived Feb. 1, although Cooper said he never knew about the package until Thursday. It contained a DVD of court testimony, with a Post-It note signed by Dorner claiming, "I never lied! Here is my vindication."


PHOTOS: Former LAPD Officer Suspected in Shootings


It also contained a keepsake coin bearing the name of former Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton that came wrapped in duct tape, Cooper said. The duct tape bore the note, "Thanks, but no thanks Will Bratton."


Bratton told Cooper on his program, "Anderson Cooper 360," that he believed he gave Dorner the coin as he was headed overseas for the Navy, Bratton's practice when officers got deployed abroad. Though a picture has surfaced of Bratton, in uniform, and Dorner, in fatigues, shaking hands, Bratton told Cooper he didn't recall Dorner or the meeting.






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Violence mars funeral of slain Tunisian opposition leader


TUNIS (Reuters) - Police and mourners clashed at the mass funeral on Friday of secular opposition leader Chokri Belaid, whose assassination has plunged Tunisia deeper into political crisis.


Braving chilly rain, at least 50,000 people turned out to honor Belaid in his home district of Jebel al-Jaloud in the capital, chanting anti-Islamist and anti-government slogans.


It was Tunisia's biggest funeral since the death of Habib Bourguiba, independence leader and first president, in 2000.


Violence erupted near the cemetery as police fired teargas at demonstrators who threw stones and set cars ablaze. Police also used teargas against protesters near the Interior Ministry, a frequent flashpoint for clashes in the Tunisian capital.


Tunisia, cradle of the Arab uprisings, is riven by tensions between dominant Islamists and their secular opponents, and by frustration at the lack of social and economic progress since President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted in January 2011.


Belaid's assassination has shocked a country which had hitherto experienced a relatively peaceful political transition.


"The people want a new revolution," shouted mourners in Tunis, who also sang the national anthem.


Crowds surged around an open army truck carrying Belaid's coffin, draped in a red and white Tunisian flag, from a cultural center in Jebel al-Jaloud towards the leafy Jallaz cemetery, as a security forces helicopter flew overhead.


"Belaid, rest in peace, we will continue the struggle," mourners chanted, holding portraits of the politician killed near his home on Wednesday by a gunman who fled on a motorcycle.


Some demonstrators denounced Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of the ruling Islamist Ennahda party. "Ghannouchi, assassin, criminal," they chanted. "Tunisia is free, terrorism out."


Police fired teargas to disperse anti-government protesters throwing stones and petrol bombs in the southern mining town of Gafsa, a stronghold of support for Belaid, witnesses said.


Crowds there had chanted "The people want the fall of the regime", a slogan first used against Ben Ali.


CRADLE OF REVOLT


In Sidi Bouzid, the southern town where the revolt against the ousted strongman began, about 10,000 marched to mourn Belaid and shout slogans against Ennahda and the government.


Banks, factories and some shops were closed in Tunis and other cities in response to a strike called by unions in protest at Belaid's killing, but buses were running normally.


Tunis Air suspended all its flights because of the strikes, a spokesman for the national airline said. Airport sources in Cairo said EgyptAir had canceled two flights to Tunisia after staff at Tunis airport joined the general strike.


After Belaid's assassination, Prime Minister Hamdi Jebali, an Islamist, said he would dissolve the government and form a cabinet of technocrats to rule until elections could be held.


But his own Ennahda party and its secular coalition partners complained they had not been consulted, casting doubt over the status of the government and compounding political uncertainty.


No one has claimed responsibility for the killing of Belaid, a lawyer and secular opposition figure.


His family have blamed Ennahda but the party has denied any hand in the shooting. Crowds have attacked several Ennahda party offices in Tunis and other cities in the past two days.


"Hope still exists in Tunisia," Fatma Saidan, a noted Tunisian actor, told Reuters at Belaid's funeral. "We will continue to struggle against extremism and political violence."


She called for national unity, saying: "We are ready to accept Islamists, but they don't accept us."


SECULAR SYMBOL


While Belaid had only a modest political following, his criticism of Ennahda policies spoke for many Tunisians who fear religious radicals are bent on snuffing out freedoms won in the first of the revolts that rippled through the Arab world.


Secular groups have accused the Islamist-led government of a lax response to attacks by ultra-orthodox Salafi Islamists on cinemas, theatres and bars in recent months.


The economic effect of political uncertainty and street unrest could be serious in a country which has yet to draft a new constitution and which relies heavily on the tourist trade.


Mohamed Ali Toumi, president of the Tunisian Federation of Travel Agencies, described the week's events as a catastrophe that would have a negative impact on tourism, but he told the national news agency TAP no cancellations had been reported yet.


France, which had already announced the closure of its schools in Tunis on Friday and Saturday, urged its nationals to stay clear of potential flashpoints in the capital.


The cost of insuring Tunisian government bonds against default rose to its highest level in more than four years on Thursday and ratings agency Fitch said it could further downgrade Tunisia if political instability continues or worsens.


(For an interactive look at Tunisia please click on http://link.reuters.com/tub85t)


(Additional reporting by Alexander Dziadosz in Cairo and Brian Love in Paris; Editing by Jon Boyle)


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S'pore the single largest foreign investor in Iskandar Malaysia






SINGAPORE: Global Capital & Development (GCD), the lead investor of Medini in Iskandar Malaysia's Nusajaya development zone, says the region has attracted some S$2 billion in investments from Singapore since 2006.

GCD says investment from Singapore in Iskandar Malaysia is set to soar; Singapore is already the single largest foreign investor in the region.

Link (THM) Holdings, a Singapore developer, is the latest firm to invest in Iskandar Malaysia; it announced on Wednesday that it purchased a 5.9-hectare land site from GCD.

Link said that it will build mixed properties on the site, which is worth S$1 billion in gross development value. The project is expected to be completed in three phases over a period of five years.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Mr Keith Martin, who is Chief Executive Officer of GCD, said: "Link (THM) Holdings' development of Media Village @ Medini Iskandar is a catalyst for further business, lifestyle and living activity in Medini. Together with cornerstone investors and existing developments, GCD foresees a significant value increase in the prices of commercial and residential properties in the area."

Mr Martin added that GCD will continue to partner with quality investors to transform Medini into a destination city of global significance.

The company's next focus will be to further engage business park operators on opportunities to fund a SME business park for a wide range of business sectors and services.

Mr Martin said there is clear demand, particularly from Singapore companies, to seek affordable support space in Medini.

- CNA/jc



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Sprint CEO: No changes in smartphone pricing expected



Enjoy that unlimited data plan.



(Credit:
CNET)



Sprint Nextel won't be abandoning its unlimited data plan or current pricing structure any time soon.


The company isn't considering any changes to its current offering, CEO Dan Hesse said during a conference call with investors today.


"We always reserve the right to make changes, but we are not anticipating any," Hesse said.



Over the past few years, Sprint has stuck to the unlimited smartphone data plan even as larger rivals such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless moved to plans with limits and family-style data bundles. Hesse considers the unlimited offering to be Sprint's way of standing apart from the pack.


More recently, T-Mobile has encroached on Sprint's turf by offering an unlimited data of its own, including one that doesn't require a contract.


Both carriers lag behind AT&T and Verizon on major financial metrics such as customer growth, revenue, profitability, and earnings, and feel the pressure to offer more to win over customers.


While Sprint offers an unlimited data plan, it's hampered by a slow roll-out of its 4G LTE network and a delay in the progress of its Network Vision plan to upgrade its infrastructure. Hesse conceded that Sprint faced delays in 2012 with its upgrade, and he and his team vowed to catch up to this rivals.


"We're working hard to make up for the delays encountered in 2012," said Steve Elfman, head of network operations for Sprint.


Sprint has 8,000 sites "on air," or running, while it is either preparing for, or in the middle of, upgrading more than 19,500 additional sites, Elfman said.


Sprint's 4G LTE network is in 58 cities with 170 expected to get the faster service in the coming months.


Still, Sprint has gotten knocked for its slower deployment, which has favored smaller cities rather than the larger metropolitan areas such as New York or San Francisco, which CNET reported may not get 4G until March. Hesse admitted Sprint was at a disadvantage when compared with AT&T and Verizon. Even T-Mobile has touted a nationwide 4G network. While it uses a different kind of technology, it's a boast that Sprint can no longer make because it has abandoned the older 4G WiMax network.


Sprint is expected to cover 200 million people with 4G LTE by the end of the year, although Elfman warned that may slip to the beginning of 2014.


Because of the disadvantage, Hesse said he doesn't believe Sprint can raise its prices. He wouldn't consider a price change until the company was in a stronger network position, which he believes will come in the second half.


Sprint, meanwhile, also expects to spur growth through stronger
tablet sales. The company recently got the
iPad, but hasn't had a chance to properly market the product. Hesse said Sprint hasn't had a chance to create marketing materials that meet with Apple's standards, but that promoting the iPad would be a focus of this year. He noted that tablets represent a good portion of AT&T and Verizon's customer growth, and that Sprint could see similar growth from the area.


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Winter nor'easter sweeping into Northeast

A major snowstorm is passing through the Great Lakes Thursday morning, and by Friday night could make travel nearly impossible in parts of the Northeast.


CBS News weather consultant David Bernard says there is a potential for historic snows and blizzard conditions across the Northeast, with as much as 2 feet of snow in some areas.


The National Weather Service says this nor'easter-type storm system will bring strong winds and heavy snow to the region, with eastern New England experiencing the greatest effects. A blizzard watch was issued for Boston and surrounding areas, including Rhode Island, and has now been extended to the eastern end of Long Island and most of Connecticut.



A coastal flooding watch also is in effect for some shore communities in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Long Island.



Beginning late Thursday most of the Northeast will be under a winter storm watch. The snow will start Friday morning, with the heaviest amounts dumped going into Saturday as the storm moves past New England and upstate New York, the weather service said.



Bernard says the storm system - an area of low pressure over the Carolinas - is going to rapidly move to the Northeast during the day Friday; by Friday evening it may start as rain along the coast, but inland areas will get snow.



Late Friday night into Saturday morning, Bernard said, it should be all snow across the Northeast and New England. He said up to 2 feet of snow is not out of the question.



"This has the potential for being a dangerous storm, especially for Massachusetts into northeast Connecticut and up into Maine," said Louis Uccellini, director of the weather agency's National Centers for Environmental Prediction.



The storm would hit just after the 35th anniversary of the historic blizzard of 1978, which paralyzed the region with more than 2 feet of snow and hurricane force winds.



In New York City Friday's rain will turn to snow, with the potential of 6, maybe 12 inches of snow, Bernard said.



Assuming the snow clears out by the weekend with no major problems, ski areas in Massachusetts were excited by the prospect of the first major snowstorm they've seen since October 2011.



Tom Meyers, marketing director for Wachusett Mountain Ski Area in Princeton, Mass., said that at an annual conference of the National Ski Areas Association in Vermont this week, many participants were "buzzing" about the storm. He said the snow will arrive at an especially opportune time — a week before many schools in Massachusetts have February vacation.



"It is perfect timing because it will just remind everybody that it is winter, it's real, and get out and enjoy it," Meyers said.



"We'll be here with bells on," said Christopher Kitchin, inside operations manager at Nashoba Valley Ski Area in Westford, Mass. "People are getting excited. They want to get out in the snow and go snow-tubing, skiing and snowboarding."



At Mount Snow in Vermont, spokesman Dave Meeker said the true value of the storm will be driving traffic from southern New England northward.



"It's great when we get snow, but it's a tremendous help when down-country gets snow," he said. "When they have snow in their backyards, they're inspired."

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Ex-LA Cop Sought in Shootings of 3 Cops, 2 Slayings













Police in Southern California say they suspect that a fired cop is connected to the shootings -- one fatal -- of three police officers this morning, as well as the weekend slayings of an assistant women's college basketball coach and her fiancé in what cops believe are acts of revenge against the LAPD, as suggested in the suspect's online manifesto.


Former police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, who's a U.S. Navy reservist, has been publically named as a suspect in the killings of Monica Quan, 28, and her 27-year-old fiancé, Keith Lawrence, Irvine police Chief David L. Maggard said at a news conference Wednesday night.


"We are considering him armed and dangerous," Lieutenant Julia Engen with the Irvine Police Department said.


Police said three police officers were shot early this morning: one in Corona, Calif., and two in Riverside, Calif. The Riverside Police Department said one of its officers was killed, KABC-TV reported. The conditions of the two other officers were not immediately released. Police reportedly suspect a connection to Dorner.


"They were on routine patrol stopped at a stop light when they were ambushed," Lieutenant Guy Toussant with the Riverside police department said.


Police around Southern California are wearing tactical gear, including helmets and guns across their chests. The light-up signs along California highways show the license plate number of Dorner's car, and say to call 911 if it is seen. The problem, police say, is that they believe Dorner is switching license plates on his car, a 2005 charcoal gray Nissan Titan pickup truck.








Engaged California Couple Found Dead in Car Watch Video









Missing Ohio Mother: Manhunt for Ex-Boyfriend Watch Video







Lawrence was found slumped behind the wheel of his white Kia in the parking lot of their upscale apartment complex Sunday and Quan was in the passenger seat.


"A particular interest at this point in the investigation is a multi-page manifesto in which the suspect has implicated himself in the slayings," Maggard said.


Police said Dorner's manifesto included threats against members of the LAPD. Police say they are taking extra measures to ensure the safety of officers and their families.


The document, allegedly posted on an Internet message board this week, apparently blames Quan's father, retired LAPD Capt. Randy Quan, for his firing from the department.


"Your lack of ethics and conspiring to wrong a just individual are over," he allegedly wrote.


One passage from the manifesto reads, "I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty."


"I never had the opportunity to have a family of my own," it reads. "I'm terminating yours."


Dorner was with the department from 2005 until 2008, when he was fired for making false statements.


Randy Quan, who became a lawyer in retirement, represented Dorner in front of the Board of Rights, a tribunal that ruled against Dorner at the time of his dismissal, LAPD Capt. William Hayes told The Associated Press Wednesday night.


According to documents from a court of appeals hearing in October 2011, Dorner was fired from the LAPD after he made a complaint against his field-training officer, Sgt. Teresa Evans, saying in the course of an arrest she had kicked a suspect who was a schizophrenic with severe dementia.


After an investigation, Dorner was fired for making false statements.


"We have strong cause to believe Dorner is armed and dangerous," Maggard said.


Police say Dorner is 6-feet tall, and weighs 270 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes.


Meanwhile, Cal State-Fullerton is still mourning the loss of their beloved assistant coach.


"There are really no words to convey the sadness that our program feels, that the young women who have had the privilege of working with such a bright and passionate woman," head coach Marcia Foster said earlier this week. "I want to especially send out condolences to Randal and Sylvia Quan, and her brother Ryan."


After college, Quan coached at Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks and has spent the past two years as an assistant coach at Cal State-Fullerton. The university has posted a memorial page on its sports website dedicated to Quan.


Lawrence was a business graduate who recently started working as a public-safety officer at USC.


The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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Khamenei rebuffs U.S. offer of direct talks


DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's highest authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Thursday slapped down an offer of direct talks made by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden this week, saying they would not solve the problem between them.


"Some naive people like the idea of negotiating with America, however, negotiations will not solve the problem," Khamenei said in a speech to officials and members of Iran's air force carried on his official website.


"If some people want American rule to be established again in Iran, the nation will rise up to face them," he said.


"American policy in the Middle East has been destroyed and Americans now need to play a new card. That card is dragging Iran into negotiations."


Khamenei made his comments just days after Joe Biden said the United States was prepared to meet bilaterally with the Iranian leadership. "That offer stands but it must be real and tangible," Biden said in a speech in Munich.


With traditional fiery rhetoric, Khamenei lambasted Biden's offer, saying that since the 1979 revolution the United States had gravely insulted Iran and continued to do so with its threat of military action.


"You take up arms against the nation of Iran and say: 'negotiate or we fire'. But you should know that pressure and negotiations are not compatible and our nation will not be intimidated by these actions," he added.


Relations between Iran and the United States were severed in 1979 after the overthrow of Iran's pro-western monarchy and diplomatic meetings between officials have since been very rare.


ALL OPTIONS STILL "ON THE TABLE"


Currently U.S.-Iran contact is limited to talks between Tehran and a so-called P5+1 group of powers on Iran's disputed nuclear program which are to resume on February 26 in Kazakhstan.


Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor said he was skeptical the negotiations in Almaty could yield a result, telling Israel Radio that the United States needed to demonstrate to Iran that "all options were still on the table".


Israel, widely recognized to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East, has warned it could mount a pre-emptive strike on Iranian atomic sites. Israel sees its existence as directly threatened by the prospect of an nuclear-armed Iran, given Tehran's refusal to recognize the existence of the Jewish state.


"The final option, this is the phrasing we have used, should remain in place and be serious," said Meridor.


"The fact that the Iranians have not yet come down from the path they are on means that talks ...are liable to bring about only a stalling for time," he said.


Iran maintains its nuclear program is entirely peaceful but Western powers are concerned it is intent on developing a weapons program.


Many believe a deal on settling the nuclear issue is impossible without a U.S.-Iranian thaw. But any rapprochement would require direct talks addressing many sources of mutual mistrust that have lingered since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution and the subsequent U.S. embassy hostage crisis in Tehran.


Moreover, although his re-election last November may give President Barack Obama a freer hand to pursue direct negotiations, analysts say Iran's own presidential election in June may prove an additional obstacle to progress being made.


(Additional reporting by Dan Williams; Editing by William Maclean and Jon Boyle)



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Population White Paper will benefit S'pore economy: SICC






SINGAPORE: The Singapore International Chamber of Commerce (SICC) said the Singapore economy will benefit from the many long-term principles outlined in the Population White Paper.

In a statement on Wednesday, the SICC pointed out that early planning to build the infrastructure for a growing population will help Singapore maintain its competitive edge.

SICC said that while attracting foreign talent has its sensitivities, it is not a "zero-sum game" that pits "locals against foreigners."

SICC believes that with a diversified workforce coupled with adequate infrastructure, Singapore is able to attract higher value-add investment.

And with more foreign investment, only then there will be more work and jobs for everyone.

SICC feels Singaporeans will ultimately benefit from the easing of foreign labour restrictions.

- CNA/fa



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Google spends $125 million for e-commerce firm Channel Intelligence



Google has signed a deal to acquire e-commerce-solutions company Channel Intelligence for $125 million in cash.


Channel's parent company, ICG, announced the deal today.


Channel's technologies are designed to boost the sale of products online. The company offers a Facebook platform, product search engines, and other services created for companies looking to improve product sales. Channel, based near Orlando, Fla., claims that it "drives $2 billion in sales annually in referred sales online in computing products, home improvement products, appliances, consumer electronics, toys and a variety of other consumer packaged goods."


Google is obviously no stranger to e-commerce, offering a Shopping page and a Checkout tool for online merchants. It's not clear, however, what it has planned for Channel.


ICG expects the deal to close in the first quarter. CNET has contacted Google for comment on the acquisition. We will update this story when we have more information.


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USPS to announce Saturday service cuts in effort to slash costs

(CBS News) Get ready for some big changes in your mail service. After losing $16 billion last year, the postmaster general will make announce Wednesday that the Postal Service intends to halt Saturday delivery of first-class mail by this summer, Aug. 1, CBS News has learned. That means most mailers, letters and catalogs would not arrive on Saturdays, ending a 150-year tradition.

The plan to shrink delivery from six days a week to five would only affect first-class mail, while packages, mail-order medicines, priority and express mail would still get delivered on Saturdays.

.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., says the move will save the struggling postal service $2 billion a year. "It's a proper business decision and (in the) long run, good for the Postal Service and good for Americans."

The Postal Service has lost $41 billion dollars over the past six years as more and more Americans turned to private shippers, email, and online banking.

To save money, the Postal Service slashed hours of service at about half the nation's 26,000 post offices and trimmed its workforce by 35 percent.

But it wasn't enough. David Walker, a former government watchdog, is part of a panel looking at possible postal reforms. Walker told CBS News' Nancy Cordes the new measure "won't come close to solving the postal service's problem. It's got to look at more fundamental changes in its infrastructure, its compensation costs, its retirement obligations, and also what it does and who does its business."

But there's just so much the Postal Service can do without congressional approval. Despite years of begging by postmasters general, Congress never passed a reform bill that would have given the Postal Service more flexibility to modernize and streamline its service.

Asked whether the Postal Service is making this announcement because they're trying to force Congress to act, Coburn said, "No, I don't think so at all. Look, they're in survival mode. You're not going to have any post office. I mean, here's the alternative: They're losing $25 million dollars a day. A day. They have to do something."

Coburn and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the two top Republicans on the House and Senate committees that oversee the Postal Service will issue a letter Wednesday going to House and Senate leaders, asking them to support the elimination of Saturday service and change the law that has prevented the USPS from doing this in the past. The letter reads, in part, "What has impeded the Postal Service from phasing out universal Saturday delivery of letters is an appropriations rider carried in law since 1984 that ties six-day mail delivery to the acceptance of roughly $100 million in reimbursement from the federal government for services rendered by the Postal Service. According to Postal Service estimates, the rider constitutes a more than $2.5 billion annual unfunded mandate. With the current [fiscal year] 2013 government funding resolution set to expire at the end of March, we ask that the six-day mail rider be omitted from any subsequent government funding legislation, enabling the Postal Service to implement this necessary reform without impediment."


And, they point out: "This change has bipartisan support. President Obama has repeatedly called for moving to five-day delivery of mail, most recently in his FY 2013 budget. Furthermore, according to an October 2011 Quinnipiac poll fully 79 percent of Americans endorse the shift."

Technically, the Postal Service is not allowed to its reduce service unless Congress changes the law, but lawyers for the Postal Service think that they have "figured out a way around the law."

For Nancy Cordes' full report, watch the video above.

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