Mark Wilcox/Daily Mining Gazette The Houghton post office seen in this Feb. 1, 2026 photo. The recent disruption in postal service in the western U.P. which has affected delivery of the Daily Mining Gazette and other publications, has caused concerns.

Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series on mail disruptions in the western Upper Peninsula

HOUGHTON – Over the past number of weeks, the Daily Mining Gazette has received numerous complaints regarding subsribers not receiving their newspaper in the mail. According to U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, this problem is not limited to newspaper subscribers.

“My office continues to hear from constituents who are experiencing significant delays and other disruptions in mail delivery across the area,” Bergman said in a Jan. 20 letter to the U.S. Postmaster General and CEO David Steiner.

Bergman’s recent letter is not the first time he has expressed concerns with the USPS, and he is not alone.

In July, 2025, Bergman was one of four members of the U.S. House to form the bipartisan Congressional Postal Service Caucus which, it says, is committed to improving the United States Postal Service and supporting the more than 600,000 USPS employees across the country.

The caucus lacks legislative or regulatory authority. Its power is limited to influence, advocacy, and oversight, such as promoting legislation on service standards, protecting workers and opposing facility consolidation. It is also concerned with the USPS Delivering for America plan.

In March, 2021, the USPS announced Delivering for America, a ten-year plan it says includes initiatives to improve organizational and operational processes, and actively make the Postal Service an efficient, high-performing, world class logistics and delivery provider.

As part of the plan, in Jan. 2024, the USPS proposed relocating mail processing operations from the Iron Mountain Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) in Kingsford, to Green Bay, WI.

On March 15, 2024 the USPS announced that as part of a $40 billion investment strategy to upgrade and improve the Postal processing, transportation, and delivery networks, it is conducting an evaluation of current operations and potential future uses of its Iron Mountain Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) facility in Kingsford.

However, in response to local opposition, the plan was reconsidered. In February 2025, it was announced that the Iron Mountain facility would remain open, with a $3.75 million investment to transform it into a Local Processing Center (LPC), preventing the loss of local processing services. At the time, the USPS said it will not go back to providing overnight service in the Upper Peninsula which ended in January 2024. The move affected delivery of items such as prescription medicines and water testing.

On Jan. 24 of this year, the Iron Mountain Daily News reported that, like the Daily Mining Gazette, local complaints have been numerous, as that newspaper is also delivered through the mail. Some subscribers say they now receive mail only once a week, sometimes on Sundays as their carriers struggle to catch up. Others claim they’ve been advised to pick up their mail at the post office.

The slowdown began before Christmas as carriers were told to focus on delivering packages. That created a backlog that, coupled with staffing shortages, has left some areas with sporadic service, according to reports and customer feedback.