Earlier this month, the United States Postal Service announced a proposal to convert the Dakota Central mail processing center in Huron into strictly a local mail processing center. The result of this would be a delay in mail delivery throughout the region.
“As many True Dakotan readers already know, outside of the 57382 zip code in the immediate Wessington Springs area, we already fight slow, sporadic delivery of the newspaper to subscribers and residents,” said True Dakotan Editor/ Publisher Kristi Hine. “I firmly believe this proposed conversion would make matters much worse.”
Readers and community members can offer public comment online until Dec. 23 HERE
“I urge you to comment in opposition to the proposal. The deadline to comment is Dec. 23, but please, don’t delay,” said Hine. “I encourage you to emphasize how and why timely delivery of your newspaper is so important to you.'
Hine, on behalf of the True Dakotan submitted the following comments: My weekly publication is the official newspaper for Jerauld County, City of Wessington Springs, Towns of Lane and Alpena and the Wessington Springs School District. True Dakotan depends on the USPS as a delivery partner to ensure my publication is delivered in a timely manner to subscribers and community residents. Timely delivery is an essential piece of the puzzle when it comes to providing local news and preventing news deserts, especially in rural areas like ours. Additionally, advertisers rely on the True Dakotan and our associated mail products to deliver their marketing and promotional messaging in a timely manner to consumers. True Dakotan opposes converting Dakota Central facility to strictly a local processing center, especially without additional information or justification from USPS that timely mail delivery of newspapers will not be hampered further.
“If you have questions or would like assistance submitting your comment, please feel free to call the newspaper office at 605-5391281 or email me directly at kristi@truedakotan.com,” Hine said. “On top of raising postage for newspapers nearly four times the rate increase proposed for other users of the mail, it appears that USPS is, once again, proposing less service for more cost. Ultimately, this proposal not only affects the timely delivery of the True Dakotan to our readers, but also heightens the negative impact of delays for all mail delivered through USPS in the region.”