S T E A M B O AT
TODAY
SATURDAY
AUGUST 22, 2009
Steamboat Springs, Colorado
FREE
®
Vol. 21, No. 201
RO U T T
C O U N T Y ’ S
DA I LY
N E W S PAP E R
S T E A M B O AT S P R I N G S
Festival continues Workshops, Yampa River Art Stroll, performance part of art event today Page 4
S T E A M B O AT S P R I N G S
Jobless rate declines Unemployment figures for Routt County improve in July to 6.8 percent Page 3
SPORTS
Steamboat Springs resident Cristina Magill signs a petition Friday urging the U.S. Postal Service to keep the Sundance Plaza location open.
Postal petition grows
Residents work to alter post office plans; frustrations increase Brandon Gee
VIDEO ONLINE
PILOT & TODAY STAFF
www.steamboatpilot.com
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
Dawes off to Denver Page 23
Briefs . . . . . . . . .10 Classifieds . . . . .29 Colorado. . . . . . .14 Comics . . . . . . . .27 Crossword . . . . .27 Happenings . . . . .7
A local resident has launched a petition drive to save the post office in the Sundance at Fish Creek shopping center at a time when frustrations are growing with the U.S. Postal Service and its plans to close the branch and consolidate operations downtown. Some involved with the plans have accused the Postal Service of disingenuous behavior. Postal
■ LOTTO
■ INDEX Horoscope . . . . .28 Nation. . . . . . . . .17 Scoreboard. . . . .26 Sports. . . . . . . . .23 ViewPoints . . . . . .8 World . . . . . . . . .22
MATT STENSLAND/STAFF
Friday night’s Cash 5 numbers: 2-8-12-20-28 Drawings are held Monday through Saturday.
Service officials say they have been as forthcoming and cooperative as possible while waiting for issues to be resolved that will allow them to finalize their plans. The Postal Service plans to have a new main post office built by a private developer near the intersection of U.S. Highway 40 and Pine Grove Road in the proposed City South commercial
■ WEATHER
Partly sunny with a storm. High of 88.
Page 39
center. For economic reasons, it plans to merge the Sundance operation and its nearly 2,600 postal boxes with the downtown post office in the interim, a plan that has city officials and others sweating about the potential impacts consolidation would have on the already congested intersection of Third Street and Lincoln Avenue. There are about 5,200 postal boxes downtown. Renee Mestan’s petition is in support of keeping the Sundance office open until operations can be merged at City South. Those
who want to sign the petition can call Mestan at 846-5831. “It’s unbelievable the response from people,” said Mestan, who said she gathered about 200 signatures in two days. “I really like the Sundance Plaza post office.” Mestan received permission from Sundance at Fish Creek Manager Bob Larson to collect signatures on the property. “This is something the community doesn’t want,” Larson said. “If we have 2,000 signatures, See Post office, page 13
■ THERE’S MORE ONLINE For around-the-clock updates, breaking local news and sports scores, videos, photos and an interactive community forum, visit www.steamboatpilot.com.