As others see it: It's better than closings

• Post Office

Justine Wettschreck/Daily Globe Residents in the city of Avoca will have their post office remain open under a new U.S. Postal Service reorganizational plan.

Talk about it

Rural communities across west central Minnesota and the rest of America got some good news earlier this week when the U.S. Postal Service announced it is changing its reorganization plan.

Now the postal service is considering cut opening hours and other options instead of closing more than 3,700 rural post offices across the country. More than 100 post offices in Minnesota were on the closing list.

A wave of dissent from citizens and politicians has forced Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe to leave Washington and visit some of the rural communities where post office closings had been proposed. He heard how important post offices are in those rural communities.

Currently, the postal service is reportedly losing $25 million per day. Yet Congress has been struggling to approve any postal overhaul plan. Postal officials are calling for quicker action to resolve the financial challenges.

This alternative reorganization plan is preferable to the post office closings, which can be detrimental in those rural communities. The loss of post offices impact communication, business and health needs throughout those rural communities.

The long-term future of the postal service still needs to resolved and fixed by Congress. It will be a challenge finding agreement between the Senate and House plans.

For the short-term though, rural post offices will not be closing, but reducing hours or finding locations to share with other businesses or government buildings.

This is a good step for the rural communities of west central Minnesota and across the country.

Tags: opinion, editorials