![Postal Service: Will Keep Rural Post Offices Open](http://townsquare.media/site/67/files/2012/01/USPS1.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Postal Service: Will Keep Rural Post Offices Open
WASHINGTON (AP) - The struggling U.S. Postal Service is trying to tamp down concern over its wide-scale cuts, saying it will seek to keep hundreds of rural post offices open with shorter hours.
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe tells a news conference the new plan will save the mail agency half a billion dollars each year while addressing concerns of rural residents most opposed to post office closings.
Previously, up to 3,700 low-revenue post offices were slated for closure or consolidation beginning sometime after May 15, many in rural areas. It was part of a multibillion-dollar postal cost-cutting effort to stave off the agency's bankruptcy.
The Postal Service now plans to seek regulatory approval for the new plan and get community input, a process that could take several months.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved)
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