Tennessee National Guard Engineers Deploy to Kuwait

     NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee Army National Guard soldiers from the 212th Engineer Company, based in Paris and Camden, are leaving this week in preparation for a one-year deployment to Kuwait in support of the war in Afghanistan.

     Roughly 150 guardsmen will leave on Thursday from the Paris National Guard Armory to go to Fort Bliss, Texas, for training.

     Capt. Susan Parker said in a news release that many of their troops have deployed two and three times before. The unit will perform construction operations for coalition forces in Kuwait and elsewhere.

     The Paris unit has previously deployed to Kuwait and Iraq from 2002 to 2003 and helped build missile sites and fuel pipelines to support the war in Iraq, as well as building detainee holding facilities.

Signs and Construction Plat Approved By Jackson Regional Planning Commission

Bail Bond Specialists, located on 444 East Main, got approval from the Jackson Municipal Regional Planning Commission to have three signs on their side of their two sided building. 

They requested an illuminated sign on an existing pole in the front, a sign on the front of the building above their door, and one final sign on the back side of the building.

However, if another tenant moves into the other side, they must reduce their signage by 50% in order to accommodate their signage.

The board also approved a construction in Wyndstone subdivision 2. They have to meet 5 specifications in order to be approved. 

The developer must complete TDEC program, get TDEC certified, sign a contract with the subdivision, obtain a permit, and pay the permit fee.

Postal Service Announces Unilateral Plan to End Saturday Mail Delivery

     WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. Postal Service isn't waiting any longer for permission from Congress to quit delivering mail on Saturdays. It says it's going ahead with plans to start five-day-a-week delivery in August.

     Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe says the agency's financial condition is urgent, and the change will save about $2 billion a year.

     Under the plan, letters would be delivered to homes and businesses only from Monday through Friday. Packages would continue to be delivered on Saturdays.

     Mail would still be delivered to post office boxes on Saturdays, and post offices now open on Saturdays would remain open.

     The Postal Service has been advocating a shift to five-day delivery for several years, but Congress hasn't approved it.

     Congress included a ban on five-day delivery in its appropriations bill. But because the federal government is now operating under a temporary spending measure, rather than an appropriations bill, Donahoe says the agency believes it can make the change itself.

     He says the agency is asking Congress not to reimpose the ban when the spending measure expires on March 27.

Letter Carriers Union Denounces Move to Five-Day Mail Delivery

     WASHINGTON (AP) - The head of the letter carriers union says it's a "disastrous idea."

     Fredric Rolando is reacting to the announcement that Saturday mail delivery will come to an end in August. Under the plan -- aimed at saving up to $2 billion a year -- mail would go to homes and businesses from Monday through Friday. Packages would still be delivered on Saturday.

     Rolando says the move will hurt "millions of customers" -- particularly businesses, rural communities, the elderly, the disabled and others who depend on Saturday delivery. He also says it goes against the will of Congress as expressed over the past 30 years.

     But the postmaster general, Patrick Donahoe, says research indicates that nearly 7 in 10 Americans support the switch to five-day delivery as a way for the Postal Service to reduce costs.

     It's not clear how the service will be able to eliminate Saturday mail without congressional approval. Over the past several years, the Postal Service has advocated shifting to a five-day delivery schedule for mail and packages, and it unsuccessfully appealed to Congress to approve the move. The postal service gets no tax dollars for its day-to-day operations, but it is still subject to congressional control.