NEITHER SNOW, NOR RAIN, NOR HURRICANE. Hurricane Lili brought 100 mph winds, flooding and power outages to southern Louisiana, hampering postal operations earlier this month. The hurricane closed thousands of businesses and schools Oct. 3-4. Nine parishes in the immediate path of the hurricane's landfall suffered the most damage. President Bush declared the state a disaster area.

Over 120 postal facilities were without power on Oct. 3, as crews worked to restore electricity to 450,000 homes and businesses throughout the state. Still drying out from the major flooding created just eight days earlier by Tropical Storm Isadore, postal employees in Louisiana once again met the challenge by restoring delivery to affected areas. They transported mail across parishes where many roadways were impassable and quickly brought operations back to normal.

HOLLYWOOD PREMIERE. Beverly Hills, CA, was the site for a Hollywood-style unveiling of the American Filmmaking: Behind the Scenes pane of 10 commemorative stamps. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences participated in the premiere. The American Filmmaking stamps will be issued next February.

Each pane of 10 stamps includes an illustrated selvage honoring producing, with a photo of legendary producer/director Cecil B. DeMille on the set of Cleopatra. The 10 individual stamps honor art direction, cinematography, costume design, directing, film editing, makeup, music, screenwriting, sound and special effects. Helping unveil the stamps were Academy President Frank Pierson, actress Gena Rowlands and Sara Karloff, whose father, Boris Karloff, appears as Frankenstein's Monster on the Makeup stamp. Oscar-nominated acress Rowlands is the widow of actor/director John Cassavetes, who appears on the Directing stamp.

MARVELOUS MANAGERS. Two USPS managers are featured in the third edition of one of the best-selling leadership books of all time, The Leadership Challenge. In the book, Central Plains District Manager Mike Matuzek is noted for his personal recognition of employees, which motivates people. The authors also cite Atlanta District Managfer Anderson Hodges for his ability to give people choices, which builds commitments.

SWEET MAILING. In recent days, the RETT Syndrome Foundation mailed 17,000 First-Class envelopes containing a packet of Equal artificial sweetener and a tea bag. Mail is being distributed across much of the U.S. and will contain various postmarks, but the same Clinton, MD, return address. Customers should be aware that the mailing is legitimate and the white powder - which should remain safely contained in its packet - is just sugar substitute.