AUTHORITIES SEEK INFORMATION. Law enforcement authorities have identified an individual they would like to talk to in connection with the mailbox pipe bombs case. He is Luke Helder, a 21 year-old white male from Minnesota. He is described at 5'9", 150 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. He is believed to be driving a 1992 Honda 4-door sedan, black or dark gray in color, bearing Minnesota license plates EZL 873.

  PIPE BOMB FOUND IN TEXAS. Authorities reported today that another unexploded pipe bomb was found in a rural mailbox near Amarillo, TX. The device is similar to pipe bombs found in 17 rural mailboxes in four other states since Friday.

Two unexploded pipe bombs were found in rural mailboxes yesterday - one in Colorado and the other in Nebraska. The bomb discovered in Colorado was located in a rural mailbox in Salida, 100 miles southwest of Denver. The most recent discovery in Nebraska is the 8th pipe bomb found in that state, this time near Hastings, about 100 miles west of Lincoln. All devices were intact when found.

Residents of North Texas, Colorado and Nebraska are asked to leave their rural mailbox doors open as a signal to rural carriers that it is safe to deliver and collect mail.

The explosive devices did not move through the mail. In every case, they were placed directly into customers' rural mailboxes - not blue collection boxes - resulting in non-life threatening injuries to four employees and two customers. All are expected to recover. No one in Colorado or Nebraska has been injured.

Chief Operating Officer Pat Donahoe urges employees to look before reaching into a mailbox. "Be smart. Be cautious. And be safe."

Anyone - employees or customers - who has information about the bombs or has seen anything suspicious is asked to contact local law enforcement or the Postal Inspection Service immediately. The Inspection Service number is 314-539-9310.

  OVER 1 MILLION SERVED. So you thought your neighborhood post office was busy on tax day? You should've seen the cyber customers streaming in to www.usps.com on Apr. 15. Check out these stats: the USPS website recorded over 517,000 visits, representing an increase of almost 20% over typical weekday levels. The Post Office Look-up feature totaled 188,000 hits with 243,000 proximity searches and 272,000 maps created. But that's not all . . . over 603,000 calls were received at 1-800-ASK-USPS on Apr. 15. That's a 41% increase over last year.

  CELEBRATING AMERICAN CRAFTMANSHIP. USPS will issue the American Toleware stamp May 31 in McLean, VA. This new 5-cent definitive stamp features a 19th Century American toleware coffeepot from the Winterthur Museum in Delaware.

Toleware is varnished or painted tinware fashioned into a variety of household objects, including teapots, coffeepots, cups, trays and candlesticks, which are decorated with motifs such as fruits and flowers.

  THE COST OF OUR DELIVERY NETWORK. "The universal service obligation requires that the Postal Service provide service to all communities and delivery points in the United States and its territories. In FY 2001, the number of delivery points served by the Postal Service increased by 1,736,256. Historically, the annual growth in mail volume has served to help finance the cost of a growing delivery network. The equivalent of 3,400 new carrier routes is required to serve this expanding network that totaled 137.7 million delivery points at the end of FY 2001. Serving these new routes requires hiring more carriers, purchasing new vehicles and equipment and building new facilities. At an average of 45 routes per facility, the equivalent of 80 new facilities is required at an average cost of $5 million. The resulting annual capital need for network growth is approximately $400 million for facilities alone. This requirement is in addition to the cost of maintaining and/or replacing older facilities." To read more from the USPS Transformation Plan, go to:
http://www.usps.com/strategicdirection/_pdf/MeetingTheChallenge.pdf