Tag Archives: pocatello

More Economic Decline: Confusion reigns over east Idaho Postal Processing Center shutdown!

14 April 2015 (18:42 UTC-07 Tango 01, 13 April 2015)/24 Farvardin 1394/23 Jumada t-Tania 1436/26 Geng Chen 4713

So far no written shutdown notice has been issued for east Idaho’s Gateway Postal Processing Center, only verbal warnings that it will take place on 18 April 2015.  There are consistent reports from the contracted truck drivers, who make the Boise to Pocatello and Salt Lake City, Utah, to Pocatello runs: They are refusing to sign new contracts to run the new routes that postal administrators in Salt Lake City have created, and that the shutdown will be delayed at least until June as a result.

Drivers are reporting some of the new routes will have some of them sitting at processing centers for up to 28 hours, which means they’ll lose money.  Last week it was reported that a driver in the 834 zip code area of east Idaho quit (on that day the truck from the Driggs area supposedly never showed up at Gateway for the evening delivery).

Drivers making the Boise and Salt Lake runs are reporting that USPS loading dock personnel, in those cities, have not heard anything about the Gateway shutdown.

Mail arriving at Gateway in Pocatello, from Boise and Salt Lake City, continues to increase in volume, which seems counter productive if Gateway is to be shutdown at the end of this week.  Gateway employees are stressed because they’ve lost about half their manpower to “involuntary” transfers and early retirements, and supervisors are not being allowed to hire new employees.  Many employees are now working 10 to 12 hour days, six to seven days per week.

In an earlier posting I reported that east Idaho mail in the 834 zip code area will be sent to the main Post Office in Idaho Falls (IF) to be shipped to Salt Lake City.  Inside reports say management at the IF PO has issued a written statement to Salt Lake administrators saying they are incapable of complying due to logistical reasons; their loading dock is not big enough to handle all that mail.

It seems like a classic case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing.  Until the remaining Gateway employees get written notices of layoff, or plant shutdown, they are in limbo working long hard hours, not knowing what to expect, and as a result not being able to plan for anything.  Welcome to the Hotel California.

USPS Network Rationalization Consolidation List Updated April 10, 2015 (this list now shows the Gateway Pocatello Processing Center to be listed as TBD; To Be Determined)

Confusion over plan for Petaluma mail facility

announcement confirming Gateway shutdown?

Santa Ana Postal District gets new 2-ton trucks, specifically for  Amazon

USPS to spend $6 billion buying new trucks, as it layoffs thousands of employees

More Economic Decline: Notices posted in Post Offices as Zero Hour approaches fast for east Idaho’s only Postal Processing Center!

06 April 2015 (13:52 UTC-07 Tango 01)/17 Farvardin 1394/16 Jumada t-Tania 1436/18 Geng Chen 4713

Some east Idaho Post Offices have posted collection time changes (“Due to operational changes…”) for parcels and letters dropped off at their location.   The new collection times are 30 minutes earlier than normal and go into effect on 18 April 2015.

Notice posted inside the Clark Street PO in Pocatello, Idaho.

Notice posted inside the Clark Street PO in Pocatello, Idaho.

18 April is supposedly the day all east Idaho mail will be shipped to Salt Lake City, Utah, for processing.  That’s ALL mail; inbound from out of the area, out bound to other states and countries, and even cross-town letters!

17 April is the official last day of operations for the Gateway Processing Center in Pocatello.  Many people are confusing the Processing Center with the Gateway Post Office, which is located in the same building.   About 13 Clerks will remain employed after 17 April to continue operating the Post Office and the loading dock in the Processing Center.  The loading dock will remain open because beginning 18 April all east Idaho mail (in the 832 zip code area) will be loaded straight onto trucks bound for out of state processing centers in Salt Lake City.

East Idaho mail in the 834 zip code area will be sent to the main PO in Idaho Falls (IF) to be shipped to Salt Lake City.  This will be a logistical nightmare because the loading dock at the IF PO has only one door, which means trucks will have to wait in line to unload and load.

About 50 good paying jobs are in the process of being lost to a combination of early retirements, forced (“involuntary”) transfers and outright layoffs (with no severance).

There are rumors that eventually all Post Offices in Pocatello will be shutdown except for the Gateway Post Office, meaning the residents of Chubbuck and Pocatello will have only one Post Office.

Postal administrators swear up and down that delivery times will not be adversely affected by the shutdown.  I’ve got another reason why that is a lie: Performance Ratings.   For more than two decades the Gateway Processing Center has maintained some of the highest performance ratings in the Salt Lake Postal District, I’ve read that’s it’s as high as 92%.  Guess who has maintained the lowest performance ratings?  Yep, the Salt Lake Processing Centers!

Here’s some other disturbing news.  While Salt Lake postal administrators want to shutdown Gateway, for some odd reason in the past month they’ve more than doubled the mail volume they’ve been sending to Pocatello for processing!  Gateway Mail Handlers and Clerks state that the mail volume is now as high as during the end of year holiday season, and they’re operating with fewer employees due to forced retirements and transfers, and Salt Lake administrators will not allow the hiring of more employees due to the pending shutdown!

Question: If Salt Lake postal administrators think Pocatello is inefficient, and that Salt Lake can handle processing better, then why are they sending more and more mail our way?

A recent Idaho State Journal article indicated that Chubbuck city administrators have joined with Pocatello to try and stop the shutdown.  No word on any of the dozens of other east Idaho cities joining the fight, even though the shutdown will directly affect them as well.  Also, still no word from the dozens of east Idaho mail order companies, that use Priority Mail to ship out their products, showing any concern over the shutdown (companies like Weigh Vest, Fin Fun Mermaid, some company that sends Priority Medium Flat Rate boxes filed with dirt and exotic flower bulbs, another company that sends heavy boxes marked “liquid”, etc).  Those companies will see a delay in their shipments as a result of the shutdown, despite what Salt Lake postal administrators say.

Pathetic turnout for east Idaho Mayor’s last ditch effort to save Postal Processing Center!

Warren Buffett to kill off $1-billion worth of jobs, because he “likes them”! Welcome to Zero Based Budgeting, the wave of the future?

26 March 2015 (15:45 UTC-07 Tango 01)/06 Farvardin 1394/05 Jumada t-Tania 1436/07 Ji Mao 4713

“…these are brands that I like 30 plus years ago and I like them today, and I think I like them 30 years from now.”-Warren Buffett, after merging his Heinz with Kraft and then announcing $1-billion USD in job cuts

Yes, apparently if you like a company’s products you take them over and layoff the people who make those products, at least that’s the philosophy of Warren Buffett and his vulture capitalist ‘investment’ schemes called Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital.

In 2013 they took over Heinz, then immediately began killing jobs in the U.S. and Canada.  In November, Buffett’s partners announced that little ol’ Pocatello, Idaho, would lose 610 jobs in 2014, because Buffet decided to give the local Heinz plant the axe.  That was a major blow to communities (Pocatello and Chubbuck) with a combined population of less than 80-thousand, and already suffering from at least a decade of job losses.

Reports say that so far 6650 Heinz employees, worldwide, have become jobless!

This latest Buffett deal will make Kraft-Heinz the 5th largest food company in the World.  According to Nightly Business Report the “first order of business” is to kill $1-billion worth of cost, mainly in marketing and manufacturing, that’s translates directly to job killing.  ‘Investors’ loved the news of job killing (as they always do) and pushed Heinz stock prices upward by 35%.

The Wall Street Journal explains that Buffett’s current plans are corporate austerity measures, or Zero Based Budgeting.  Basically companies are taken over then the employees are forced to justify every little thing they do, and if ‘investors’ don’t like what they see those employees get fired.  And that’s the kicker, everything is done from the point of view of an ‘investor’, not somebody who’s on the front line trying to run a business making and selling products or services.  If you’ve worked the front lines of business you know there are things you have to do that just wouldn’t make sense to a bean counter who’s only interest is the “bottom line”.

The Wall Street Journal reports Zero Based Budgeting has become the norm for almost all publicly owned (they issue stocks to the public) food companies.  This can only mean a snowballing of job cuts.

Now realize that unAmerican Buffett reportedly spent $10-billion on the Kraft-Heinz deal, and his Brazilian based 3G Capital reportedly spent $49-billion to merge Heinz and Kraft!  That could have created a lot of jobs!

How can these ‘investors’ expect to sell the products they “like” if they’re killing jobs for many of the customers who buy those products?   Reality check; those ‘investors’ don’t really “like” the products you and I buy in a market place called a grocery store. The ‘products’ they “like” are called stocks, or shares or even corporate bonds, and they sell them in a market place called Wall Street!

(Wall Street is an actual place, but in this case it refers to all stock market trading houses)

Tim Hortons was recently taken over by Warren Buffett’s crony Brazilian vulture capitalist buddies at 3G Capital 

Kraft Foods announced they are killing 285 jobs!

In Pittsburgh, Wall Street wunderkind Warren Buffett killed 775 more Heinz jobs. 

In Pittsburgh, 350 people lost their jobs with Heinz. 

According to the latest reports, Buffett’s current five faves for stock investments involve Archer-Daniels Midland Company, which is involved with cooking oil and food commodities trading. He also likes Kraft Foods, a major user of cooking oil 

3G Capital is known for “cutting up” companies (typical Romneyite vulture capitalists)

discontinuation of its T.G.I. Friday’s frozen meals, Heinz conducted a thorough evaluation of the production needs at its Pocatello, Idaho factory. 

Warren Buffett says the Elites have won, his propsed tax on the Elites is first step to increasing taxes on everyone else 

U.S. Job Losses & Store Closings, 18 – 21 January 2015: “…like ripping off a band aid…” More than 17-thousand jobs lost! Increased use of credit cards results in massive layoffs! Proof you’re worth more dead than alive; corporate America even sells your impending death to investors!

Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:

Alabama: In Huntsville, Colorado based Sports Authority announced they will shutdown their Bridge Street Town Centre store in February.  JCPenney announced they will shutdown their Cullman Shopping Center store in April, 25 jobs lost.

California: In Los Angeles, old style clothing store Revival Vintage shutdown, the owner did not want to renew the lease.  San Jose news sources report that ebay administrators have confirmed they will sell off their PayPal ops, resulting in at least 2-thousand 4-hundred people becoming jobless! The sale of PayPal is being pushed by ‘activist’ (more like vulture capitalist) investors who now control most of ebay’s stock.  DreamWorks Animation announced they will eliminate 400 to 500 jobs and shutdown their Redwood City studio in 2015!  DreamWorks laid off 350 people in 2014!  Company administrators say their revenues have fallen by tens of millions of dollars. In Moreno Valley, G2 Secure Staff issued a WARN saying they will layoff 39 people in March.  In Willows, Johns Manville issued a WARN saying they will layoff 40 people by March. In Vista, Zodiac Pool Systems issued a WARN saying they will shutdown in October, at least 97 jobs lost.  In Vandenberg AFB, taxsucker InDyne issued a WARN saying they will layoff 541 people in March!   In San Ramon, California oil company Chevron finally issued a WARN revealing they laid off 100 people back in December!   I doubt it’s really about oil prices, Chevron is at least the second oil company operating in California to issue a WARN about massive layoffs after the fact (a violation of WARN regulations)!

Colorado: After 25 years Pismo Fine Art Glass shutdown, the owner wants to retire.  Renewable bio-fuel maker Gevo laid off 23 HQ employees and the CEO claims he’s cutting his base pay by 25%: “Gevo has determined this to be an opportune time to scale down the team to focus primarily on technology optimizations…”

Connecticut: The Milford Board of Education is planning to layoff 18 teachers for the 2015-16 school year, “primarily stemming from continued enrollment decline”.  The University of Connecticut admitted they laid off employees, but refused to say how many.

Florida: 289 employees of rail company CSX have accepted early retirement buyouts! CSX was hoping for 300, which means the other 11 employes will probably be forced out.

Idaho: An independent investigation revealed that recently re-‘elected’ Pocatello mayor Brian Blad farmed out city road crews to other cities, for free and without permission of the city council (as required by law).  The cost to Pocatello taxpayers is at least $15,773 in labor!  To add insult to injury the city council said they aren’t going to pursue the matter, even though Idaho laws allows them to call in the Attorney General!  The investigation was done by Deaton and Company, who submitted a seven page report to the city.  Local news media refer to the scandal as ‘PaveGate’.

Illinois: Chicago based United Continental joins other airlines in contracting out thousands of in-house jobs, as many as 2-thousand jobs now going to cheap-o contractors!

Massachusetts: Kickass Cupcakes now chapter 7 bankrupt busted. The cupcake company has been shutting down stores since 2013. The owner refused to talk to local news media.

Michigan: God refuses to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Christian bookstore, Kregel Parable.  The owners of Restaurant Mediteran announced it will shutdown in March.  Two of the co-owners want to retire and the third owner says he can’t handle more than one restaurant at a time.  In Dearborn, The Mediterranean Chef shutdown and being liqudated.

Montana: Washington based Revett Mining shutting down their copper and silver Troy Mine, blaming low prices.  70 jobs lost.

Nebraska: In Scottsbluff, after six years female clothing store T & Company shutdown.

New Hampshire: In Nashua, the owners of Silverlight Candle & Gift Shoppe announced they will shutdown in February.  They blame the unexpected shutdown of next door Aubuchon Hardware for the final nail in their coffin.

New Jersey: Belgium-Brazil owned Anheuser-Busch laying off 60 people and cutting beer production in Newark. It’s probably because this year’s malt barley crops in three states has been killed off by mother nature. 

New York: In Valley Stream, after 30 years Sunrise Multiplex Cinemas shutdown, they sold out to a shopping mall developer.  Despite reporting “substantial” quarterly gains (due to increased credit card use) NYC based American Express announced it will kill off 4-thousand jobs by the end of 2015!  Company administrators also credited their better than expected quarterly results on past job cutting, so they are ramping up job cuts as part of their plan to “reinvent” the credit card company!  Grocery store 173 Food issued a WARN saying they will shutdown in April, at least 30 jobs lost.  Another NYC based company, AOL (formerly America OnLine) announced they will kill off 150 advertising jobs! Business Insider is also reporting that their sources say dozens of AOL employees have been voluntarily quitting since December: “Media and technology are drastically evolving to keep up with today’s consumer. The lines are becoming blurred, and as you well know, our industry is converging at a faster pace than anyone predicted.”-Bob Lord, president AOL

North Carolina: Mitt Romney’s wunderkind Staples shutdown their Greensboro store on Golden Gate Drive.  After 30 years family owned Prime Sirloin buffet shutdown: “The building is old and the money to keep up the 30-year old property, which we leased, was simply going to be too much for us to keep on operating. We decided it was time to make the decision and like ripping off a band aid, there wasn’t any good way to do this.”-Lisa Martin, general manager

Ohio: ShurTech laid off 20 people at its Avon HQ: “The company needed to make these employment adjustments due to retail changes and the high cost of doing business in areas such as freight.”-Patti Sack, media manager

Oregon: What automotive industry recovery?  Commercial Vehicle Group issued a WARN saying they are shutting down their interior parts factory, 117 jobs lost!

Pennsylvania: In Philipsburg, bowling alley Moshannon Valley Super Bowl shutdown after seven years, they were evicted for failure to pay their mortgage.

Puerto Rico: Sears Holdings announced they will shutdown their 25 years old Vega Baja Kmart in March, 206 jobs lost!  Switzerland based legal drugs pusher Novartis announced they will shutdown operations in Humacao over the next three years, 270 jobs lost!  The Federal Bank of New York blames it on the expiration of tax incentives.

Texas: In Garland, Valspar issued a WARN saying they will shutdown subsidiary Engineered Polymer Solutions between March and May, 54 jobs lost.   In Austin, video game maker Lightbox Interactive laid off an undisclosed number of people, and might even shutdown.  Evil Waco based Life Partners Holdings now chapter 11 bankrupt busted.  They buy the rights to life insurance policies and then sell them to investors, that’s evil.  In other words, unAmerican corporate America, and their investors, love to bet on your death!  Oklahoma based Laredo Petroleum shutdown their Dallas office without warning, 75 jobs lost. Company administrators also claim $60 per barrel oil prices forced them to cut their operating budget in half, from $1-billion USD to about $525-million!  In Houston two mega oil service companies announced massive layoffs; Halliburton (already reported in one of my previous reports) and Baker Hughes.  Dumb-ass news media blames low oil prices but it’s really because Halliburton is taking over Baker Hughes!  At least 7-thousand Baker Hughes employees will be let go because of the $35-billion Halliburton takeover, not the oil prices!  Another Houston based oil company, Apache, announced it will kill off 250 jobs, after it hired on the former Baker Hughes CFO!

Virginia: In Old Town, after 64 years the Giant Food grocery store will shutdown. Company administrators say it’s because the town is too small to continue supporting it, and it’s not worth it to spend money on expanding it. News reports implied that there are too many Giant Food stores in the area around Old Town anyway.

Washington: A chapter 11 bankrupt busted company that loves to hit your smartphone with advertisements, Bellvue based Hipcricket, has been taken over by competitor SITO Mobile for $4.5 million.  As in all such cases you should expect layoffs, despite the fact that Hipcricket administrators said their sale to SITO would “protect human capital”, corporate weenies always say things like that.

Wisconsin: In Racine, two Vanity clothing stores shutdown, despite increased revenues for the North Dakota based company.

16-17-January-2015: U.S. oil company kills 9-thousand jobs, then pumps $1.7-billion into Russian oil! 

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) doesn’t count the hundreds of layoffs involving less than 50 people each, in its mass layoff reports. It also doesn’t count all the little ‘mom & pop’ businesses that shutdown. It doesn’t count people who get a severance for being laid off.

 

Idaho RadioShacks make the closure hit list! 1784 stores across the U.S. to close!

07 February 2015 (00:00 UTC-07 Tango 01)/17 Rabi ‘ath-Thani 1436/18 Bahman 1393/19 Bing Yin (12th month) 4712

It’s official, six (of approximately 24) Gem State RadioShack stores will be shutdown, pending a bankruptcy sale to cell phone service company Sprint.

Idaho shutdown list:

152 Bullock #4, Chubbuck
Elm Tree Plaza Suite 101, Meridian
Nampa Business Center, Nampa
733 Yellowstone Ave, Pocatello
3134 E Mullan Ave Ste A, Post Falls
Valley River Center, Rexburg

RadioShack has made public a massive list of 1784 stores across the United States that will be shutdown, called Radio Shack Exhibit 1A, B & C  First, Second & Third Tranche Stores. 

Radio Shack bankrupt busted & dying!

U.S. Job Losses & Store Closings, 23 – 26 November 2014: “unprecedented financial challenges” California based HP kills 41-thousand+ jobs! More massive healthcare cuts! More foreign companies funded with U.S. taxes killing jobs!

Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:

California: Reports revealed that Palo Alto based Hewlett Packard will kill off 41-thousand jobs by the end of 2014!!!  As many as 32-thousand people around the World have already been rendered jobless!!!  But wait there’s more!  Those same reports say evil Meg Whitman is planning on killing off more jobs in 2015, and splitting the company into two smaller operations, which usually means at least one will be sold off!   In Mountain View, software company Symantec issued a WARN saying at least 12 people will become unemployed in January 2015.  In Monterey, Aramark Sports issued a WARN saying they are shutting down in February 2015, at least 119 people to become jobless!

Florida: In Miami, RBC Wealth Management issued a WARN saying it will render 115 employees jobless between now and August 2015!  Also in Miami, healthcare and social assistance company CHARLEE of Dade County issued a WARN saying they will layoff 67 employees between January and February 2015.  In Port Saint Lucie, diabetes testing supply company Liberty Medical issued a WARN saying they’re shutting down in January 2015, at least 417 jobs lost!  In Fort Lauderdale, Senior Healthcare Services issued a WARN saying they will shutdown between January and February 2015, at least 348 jobs lost!

Idaho: School District 25, in Bannock County, warned they could be  $1.5-million USD in the hole, with the ending of current levies.  But wait, there’s more bull-shit!  District 25 administrators want new levies valued at $10-million!   This despite decades of levy and bond issues burdening tax payers, as well as decades of lottery payments which school district administrators can’t seem to account for!   It’s interesting the school levies and bonds always pass ‘elections’ no matter how many people publicly oppose them.

Illinois:  Exelon administrators warned they are considering shutting down three aged nuclear power plants sometime after Summer 2015.  They blame little or no growth in electricity demand since 2008 (gee, isn’t that when the ‘recession’ began?).

Kansas: After 91 years (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) Jilka Furniture announced it will shutdown in December: “With the many changes taking place in the furniture industry, we felt it was a wise decision to close our store.”-Bud and Loretta Jilka

Kentucky: God refuses to stop layoffs at ‘his’ Lexington Quest Community Church, at least 15 people will be let go due to “unprecedented financial challenges”, never mind that the two head pastors were engaged in “crossing of physical boundaries while stopping short of sexual intercourse.”  The two perfect examples of Christian morality are married, but not to each other!

Michigan: In Liberty Township, more than four decades old Yukon Jack Food & Spirits restaurant shutdown. Before it was a restaurant (starting in 1970) it was a grocery store. Local news media said the owners refused to talk.

New York: After only a year neighborhood grocery store Delancey Market shutdown.  In Brooklyn, nursing home Shorefront Center for Rehabilitation & Nursing Care amended their WARN saying they will shutdown in December due to sale of the business, 482 jobs affected!  In NYC, rapid response healthcare provider Rivington House shutdown, 231 jobs lost!   Also in NYC, Too Big to Jail Bank of America issued a WARN saying they are rendering jobless 95 people by Febraury 2015.  Also in NYC, after 44 years Lea’s Dress Shop shutdown.  Is it because the monthly rent for the small space is $8-thousand?  And fashion designer Ralph Rucci abandoned his snooty upscale fashion house and the new operators laid off at least 15 employees.  The new operators say that because of the bad economy (which appears to affect even the pocketbooks of the wanna-be 1%) Ralph Rucci LLC will now focus on “a more accessible designer product assortment for a wider audience.”  Holiday Inn issued a WARN saying they are shutting down their operations at the Latham hotel in February 2015, at least 50 jobs lost due to loss of contract. In Troy, city administrators warned they will have to eliminated 18 fire fighter and police  jobs.  However, fire fighters and cops say the plan would result in lots of overtime pay, so the layoffs don’t make sense.   However, they might make sense if you’re looking at trying to reduce the amount of money per employee going to the jacked up Obama Care health insurance and retirement plans (wake up people!).

North Carolina: Switzerland based evil GMO seeds and agrochemicals company Syngenta announced it will kill off 18-hundred jobs between 2015 and 2018 (note they obviously don’t expect any recovery until after 2018)!  The job culling will be felt within the United States, like Greensboro where the company is getting a state taxpayer grant of $2.98-million!

Ohio: All 14 Ohio Friendly’s Restaurants shutdown! The francisee blamed the bad economy: “These closings are regrettable, however continuing operation was no longer viable.”-Apex Eagle Hospitality

Tennessee: In Chattanooga, the owners of SturmHaus Beer Market announced it will shutdown in December, blaming the bad economy: “Craft beer share is not enough to sustain our vision for a quaint, downtown on-premise, off-premise gathering place.”

Wisconsin: Water management company Pentair Flow Tech. issued a WARN saying they’re halting a production line at their Delavan operations, 60 jobs lost.

21 – 22 november 2014: “any worker who loses their income will have an impact”

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) doesn’t count the hundreds of layoffs involving less than 50 people each, in its mass layoff reports. It also doesn’t count all the little ‘mom & pop’ businesses that shutdown. It doesn’t count people who get a severance for being laid off.

Pocatello Airport 1999, 2012 & 2014: Section Eight, Ole Yeller flies on in Idaho

Click the pics to make bigger, photos by AAron B. Hutchins:

In 1999, there was a small ‘air show’ at Pocatello Airport that was actually a promotional event for what was then called the Confederate Air Force (now called Commemorative Air Force).  One of the planes that showed up was Section Eight.

Me, Denise, little Jenny, and of course Aryssa is getting distracted again.

Me, Aryssa, Alex and little Jenny.

A bunch of crazy kids, get it, Section Eight is military lingo for crazy.

Pocatello Airport 02 August 2014: Grumman S2F Tracker

Who knew that this free airshow would also be the last for Idaho’s Pocatello Airport?

Click pics to make bigger, photos by AAron B. Hutchins:

Pocatello Airport: MIG-15 UTI & MIG-17

Pokey Airport 02 August 2014: SISTR Lenco BearCat

Click pics (by AAron B. Hutchins) to make bigger: