Local News
Popular Santa letters will end
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Starry-eyed children writing letters to the jolly man at the North Pole this holiday season likely won't get a response from Santa Claus or his helpers.
The U.S. Postal Service is dropping a popular national program begun in 1954 in the small Alaska town of North Pole, where volunteers open and respond to thousands of letters addressed to Santa each year.
Replies come with North Pole postmarks.
Last year, a postal worker in Maryland recognized an Operation Santa volunteer there as a registered sex offender. The postal worker interceded before the individual could answer a child's letter, but the Postal Service viewed the episode as a big enough scare to tighten rules in such programs nationwide.
People in North Pole are incensed by the change, likening the Postal Service to the Grinch trying to steal Christmas.
The letter program is a revered holiday tradition in North Pole, where light posts are curved and striped like candy canes and streets have names such as Kris Kringle Drive and Santa Claus Lane.
- Local News
-
-
Sheriff hosts going-away for new Buda chief
Hays County Sheriff Tommy Ratliff last week hosted a going away event for newly appointed Buda Police Chief Bo Kidd.
-
Hays County Grand Jury indictments
The following individuals were listed on a grand jury report made public by the office of District Clerk Cecilia Adair.
-
BBQ Chicken Dinners on Friday
Jackson Chapel United Methodist Church will be selling barbecued chicken dinners on friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the church, 524 Centre Street in San Marcos.
-
Scholarships available for children of military
Those who defend our freedom know all too well the costs and sacrifices associated with serving in the United States Armed Forces.
-
Obregon on second Iraq tour
Sergeant Juan L. Obregon, Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion (Assault), 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, is serving his second Iraq tour in five years.
-
Bicycle tours returning to LBJ Ranch
Due to overwhelming response last spring, Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park announces the third annual LBJ 100 Bicycle Tour on Saturday, March 27 on the LBJ Ranch near Stonewall.
-
Doggone Green
-
Carjacker sentenced to 25 years
A Buda man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the commission of a robbery at the Prime Outlet Mall in San Marcos.
-
Branding: Online survey ends, city says results are due soon
Results of the city’s branding survey will soon be revealed.
-
Passport Day slated
The San Marcos City Clerk’s Office is hosting a Passport Fair on Saturday, March 27, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. to provide passport information to U.S. citizens, and to accept passport applications.
- More Local News Headlines
-
