INSPECTORS BELIEVE ALL BOMBS FOUND. The Postal Inspection Service said today that they are confident that all of the pipe bombs placed by the pipe bomber between May 3 and May 8 have been found. Rural letter carriers and customers discovered 18 bombs in a five-state area over the five-day period beginning last Friday in Illinois, and ending Tuesday in Amarillo, Texas. Wisconsin college student Luke Helder, 21, has been charged in connection with the bombings. During the height of the pipe-bomb scare, USPS had 150 Postal Inspectors working on the case.

  BOMB SUSPECT ARRESTED. Law enforcement authorities arrested Luke J. Helder, 21, near Reno, NV, yesterday following a 40-mile high-speed chase on I-80 and charged him in connection with 18 pipe bombs placed in rural mailboxes across five states.

The five-day spree that started in Illinois and ended near Amarillo, TX, injured four rural letter carriers and two customers in initial attacks that occurred in Illinois and Iowa. None of the injuries were life-threatening. Bombs were also placed in Colorado, Nebraska and Iowa.

PMG Jack Potter praised employees for their dedication and courage during the ordeal and thanked customers for their cooperation in leaving mailbox doors open to facilitate the delivery of mail in the five states where bombs had been found.

"Once again, the Postal Service and its employees and customers have been put in harm's way," the PMG said. "I want to thank all our employees across the country for their commitment to provide universal service to all Americans, even under the most trying of circumstances."

Potter urged all employees to continue to be vigilant, "to maintain the highest levels of alertness and caution," noting nothing is more important to the Postal Service than the safety of employees and the public.

Helder has been charged with using an explosive to maliciously destroy property affecting interstate commerce and with using a destructive device to commit a crime of violence. The charges carry penalties of up to life in prison. He is a student at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

  RATE PROCESS SUMMIT. In an effort to begin implementing some of the ideas contained in the Transformation Plan, USPS and the independent Postal Rate Commission (PRC) will jointly sponsor a Ratemaking Summit May 28 at the Center for Leadership Development (Bolger Academy) in Potomac, MD. The summit will be open to all interested persons who pre-register by 5 p.m. May 10 online at the PRC website, www.prc.gov.

Interested persons also are invited to submit ideas for discussion at the summit. The main topic will be the improvement of the ratemaking process, which currently requires as much as a year to change rates or implement other initiatives.

  AGGRESSIVE COST REDUCTIONS. USPS will reduce expenses by $2 billion in fiscal year 2002, according to PMG Potter. Cost-containment actions announced Tuesday will help offset mail volume decline, which is expected to be as much as 6 billion pieces below last year's totals.

Cost reductions will keep the Postal Service deficit at an estimated $1.5 billion for FY 2002. In addition to program expenditure postponements, USPS expects to reduce its career employee workforce by 20,000 this year through attrition.

  FUNDING APPROVED. The Board of Governors approved funding for Phase Two of PostalOne!, the major USPS initiative to modernize business mail acceptance. The system will simplify verification and payment for bulk business mail by providing business customers with an electronic link to internal postal operations that will allow them to exchange mailing information.

PostalOne! has been tested successfully with 71 of the largest postal customer sites nationwide. Phase Two will replace the aging PERMIT system with enhanced payment capabilities. It will be deployed nationally to all business mailers.