The price of stamps is rising in July

Four of the 85 Forever stamps

If you use or collect stamps, be advised that starting July 12, 2026 the cost of a First-Class Mail Forever Stamp will increase by 4 cents, rising from 78 cents to 82 cents.

The price of domestic postcards will go up from 61 cents to 65 cents, while international postcards and letters will increase from $1.70 to $1.75. Meanwhile, the rate for domestic metered mail will move from 74 cents to 78 cents.

If you buy Forever stamps now, you can avoid the July price increases. The stamp’s value is locked to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce rate at the time of use, not the price you paid for it.

There are 85 designs to choose from, all available online from USPS.com

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State issues $33,000 penalty to U.S. Postal Service for dangerous waste violations

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has been improperly managing and storing dangerous waste at its Seattle Bulk Mail Center in Federal Way. On August 19, 2025, the Washington Department of Ecology issued a $33,000 penalty for violations found during a 2024 inspection.

At the Seattle Bulk Mail Center, leaking or damaged packages are set aside for disposal. If those damaged packages contain materials classified as dangerous waste, such as insecticides, propane, paints, or cleaning products, the facility is required to properly identify it, assess its hazards, and then safely store and dispose of the materials.

Ecology inspections in 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2024 all found deficiencies in how the center was identifying and storing packages containing dangerous wastes, along with other hazardous wastes from the facility’s operations and vehicle maintenance.

The amount of dangerous waste fluctuated but was significant at times; in 2022, USPS estimated that there were 9,195 pounds (4.6 tons) on site. While awaiting disposal, containers were often unlabeled and stored in crowded areas, increasing the risk of unintended chemical reactions that could pose a threat to human health and the environment.

“We expect businesses that generate hazardous waste to take the regulations seriously,” said Christa Colouzis, Northwest Region manager for Ecology’s Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction program.

“Knowing what wastes you have and how to safely store them is the first step to preventing problems. If dangerous waste isn’t properly managed, it can quickly become a safety issue for people and the environment.”

Ecology’s 2024 inspection found violations of dangerous waste laws including:

• Failure to promptly determine whether waste is dangerous and what the associated hazards are
• Failure to safely store the waste (including maintaining adequate aisle space, using secondary containment, labeling containers, and inspecting weekly)
• Failure to properly manage universal waste (common dangerous waste such as batteries and fluorescent bulbs)
• Failure to maintain personnel training records

USPS has since corrected the violations that needed to be immediately addressed.

USPS has 30 days to pay the penalty or appeal it to the Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board.

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Stamp prices going up July 13, 2025

If you want to stock up on Forever postage stamps before the rates go up, you have just a few days.

The U.S. Postal Service price changes will take take effect July 13, 2025. The new rates include a 5-cent increase in the price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp from 73 cents to 78 cents.

Customers may purchase stamps and other philatelic products through the Postal Store at usps.com/shopstamps, by calling 844-737-7826, by mail through USA Philatelic or at Post Office locations nationwide.

You will have 81 designs to choose from.

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Better late than never - Post Office installs sign at retail location in Shoreline

Signage installed at Gateway Plaza in Shoreline
Photo by John Boril

The retail branch of the U.S. Post Office, which has been located at Gateway Plaza at 185th and Aurora, will finally have exterior signage.

The branch, which has post office boxes and retail sales, has been at this location since December 30, 2017 after the USPS was evicted from its consolidated site in North City when the land was sold to a developer.

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Buy your Forever postage stamps before Friday

On April 9, 2024, the United States Postal Service® filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) of Mailing Services price changes to take effect July 14, 2024. 

The new rates include a 5-cent increase in the price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp from 68 cents to 73 cents

All mailing prices are expected to increase a small amount.

The price tables proposed to take effect July 14, 2024 are available on the Postal Service’s Postal Explorer website

The price changes have to be favorably reviewed by the PRC, but in the meantime you may want to invest in Forever stamps before Friday.

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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2024 postage stamps mark the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons stamps 2024

This stamp release marks the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, described by its owners as the World’s Greatest Role-playing Game, that has become a cultural phenomenon. 

By inviting participants to imagine themselves as wizards, warriors and other adventurers in exciting and treacherous fantasy worlds, Dungeons & Dragons opened doors to whole new universes of creativity for generations of players. 

The pane of 20 stamps features 10 different designs that highlight characters, creatures and encounters familiar to players of the game. Greg Breeding, an art director for USPS, designed the stamps and pane with existing illustrations.

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Mail stolen on Ashworth dumped at Cromwell Park

Photo by Steve Vaschakas

A reader sent photos of piles of mail he found dumped at Cromwell Park, in the SW corner trail before noon on Sunday, March 26, 2023.

Cromwell Park is at 180th and Meridian in Shoreline.

The visible addresses were from 167xx to 178xx Ashworth. Most of the mail was junk and circulars but there were a fair amount of bills and one small Amazon Prime mailer which had been ripped open and contents removed.

I suggest that when you find dumped mail, it's best to pick it up and take it to a post office - the retail center is in Gateway Plaza at 185th and Aurora. 

Soggy newspaper grocery ads can be safely discarded.

In this case, the finder notified Shoreline police and guided them to the location.

--Diane Hettrick

3-28-2023 updated with photo credit and disposition of the mail

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Mountlake Terrace post office to remain

Mountlake Terrace post office photo courtesy MLTNews.com

By Diane Hettrick

Thanks to reporting in MLTNews.com we have learned that the Mountlake Terrace Post Office will stay at its current location for now.

U.S. Postal Service spokesperson Kim Frum confirmed Wednesday that the post office building lease has been extended at 23210 57th Ave W until 2025.

In March 2022, a Postal Service spokesperson said that the property owner wasn’t interested in renewing the post office lease, which was set to expire January 31, 2023. The spokesperson also said that the Postal Service would be conducting a search for a new post office location.

In September, Mountlake Terrace’s then-acting city manager Stephen Clifton and Mayor Kyoko Matsumoto Wright pledged to assist in finding a new Mountlake Terrace location for the post office.

Shoreline / LFP residents will remember the saga when the North City Post Office property was sold for development (now The Postmark Apartments). The USPS, in spite of cooperation from the City of Shoreline, was unable to locate a property large enough for all functions. The service ended up with a processing center in Gateway Place in Mountlake Terrace and a retail center in Gateway Plaza in Shoreline.

Delivery vans were parked on Shoreline city property on Ballinger Way for months, but now are apparently using space near the processing center in Gateway Place in Mountlake Terrace.

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Mountlake Terrace post office to be relocated - postal service taking public comments

By Diane Hettrick

When the postal service, which never bothered to buy the land, lost its location in North City, residents in Lake Forest Park and NE Shoreline found it easiest to use the small postal station in Mountlake Terrace at 23210 57th Ave W.

Now the postal service has lost that location as well. Their lease is ending and they will have to move out of the building by February 2023.

They are scouting for locations, with the assistance of Mountlake Terrace officials, but have not located anything near the 3,100 square feet within the 98043 zip code they want.

They went through a similar process in Shoreline and ended up with three locations: retail and PO Boxes at Gateway Plaza on N 185th in Shoreline; processing at Gateway Place N 205th in Mountlake Terrace, and for a time their vans were parked on city owned property on Ballinger Way.

They recently sent a postcard to Mountlake Terrace residents

The notice says that “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of a public meeting, we are inviting you to send your comments on the proposal to the following address within the next 30 days:

Attn: Mountlake Terrace WA – Relocation
United States Postal Service
PO Box 27497
Greensboro, NC 27498-1103”

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AG Ferguson files new lawsuit to stop far-reaching Postal Service rule changes

Changes mirror those Postal Service wanted ahead of the 2020 election that Ferguson successfully blocked in federal court

OLYMPIA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson partnered Thursday, October 7, 2021 with a coalition of states that will file a complaint with the Postal Regulatory Commission challenging drastic operational changes at the U.S. Postal Service that threaten critical mail delivery. 

These mirror changes Postmaster General and Trump-appointee Louis DeJoy intended to make before the 2020 election that Ferguson successfully blocked in federal court last fall.

The complaint details DeJoy’s failure to follow federal law in making harmful Postal Service changes. Ferguson asserts these major Postal Service changes, which range from eliminating working hours, slowing delivery of first-class mail and removing equipment, threaten the timely delivery of mail to millions of Americans who rely on the Postal Service for delivery of everything from medical prescriptions to ballots.

Ferguson led a coalition of 14 states ahead of the 2020 general election to prevent the Postal Service from making drastic changes that would have slowed election-related mail. A federal judge in Yakima specifically ordered the Postal Service to perform nightly sweeps for ballots in areas where data showed unacceptably low on-time delivery rates up to the weekend before Election Day. These slowdowns were prevalent in Michigan and Wisconsin, which were also swing states in the election.

“Millions of Americans depend on the mail every day to receive their prescriptions, pay bills, receive Social Security checks, send rent payments and more,” Ferguson said. “One political appointee does not get to decide the fate of the Postal Service. There is a process that demands accountability from the American public for a reason — and I will fight to ensure the public gets a say.”

More information here

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AG Ferguson: Washington Federal judge issues nationwide injunction blocking Postmaster General’s unlawful policies delaying mail

Bob Ferguson, Washington
state attorney general

A federal judge in Yakima, Wash., today granted Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s request to grant a nationwide injunction forcing the U.S. Postal Service to immediately halt drastic operational changes.

Judge Stanley A. Bastian issued a detailed written order Thursday afternoon September 17, 2020. In its motion for a preliminary injunction, Ferguson and the coalition of states asked the judge to order the Postal Service to:

• Immediately stop its “leave mail behind” policy, where postal trucks are required to leave at specified times, regardless if there is mail still to be loaded

• Continue its longstanding practice of treating all election mail as First Class mail, regardless of the paid postage

• Replace, reassemble or reconnect any removed mail-sorting machines that are needed to ensure timely processing and delivery of election mail

• Abide by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s public commitment to suspend the recent policy changes that have affected mail service until after the electionThe judge said his order would substantially follow the state’s motion.

“Today’s victory protects a critical institution for our country,” Ferguson said. “Americans can now confidently vote by mail and have their voices heard.”

Case background

Ferguson is leading a coalition of 14 states that filed a lawsuit over the changes to the Postal Service on Aug. 18, 2020. The coalition includes battleground states, including Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin. 

The Postal Service changes, including eliminating or reducing staff overtime, halting outgoing mail processing at state distribution centers and removing critical mail sorting equipment, threaten the timely delivery of mail to millions of Americans who rely on the Postal Service for everything from medical prescriptions to ballots.

Ferguson’s lawsuit asserts that the postmaster general unlawfully implemented drastic changes to mail service, and seeks to stop the service reductions. 

Immediately after Ferguson filed his lawsuit, the postmaster general made public commitments that he would halt some — but not all — of those changes. Since that time, mail delays continue, and questions remain about what changes are still in effect.

The changes at the Postal Service come as President Donald Trump continues to claim without evidence that widespread vote-by-mail will lead to a fraudulent election. Washington state has allowed elections to be conducted completely by mail-in ballot since 2005, and mandated the practice statewide in 2011. The state has not experienced voter fraud at any significant level.

More information HERE

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How to get your mail

Carrier annex as viewed from Ballinger Way

The snow kept a lot of mail carriers from running their complete routes.

According to local USPS contact Ernie Swanson, "Carriers are not to attempt delivery unless access to the mailbox is safe. The mail will be held and delivered at the first safe opportunity."

He said that the carriers take all the mail with them on their route but if they can't deliver it they will take it back to the Carrier Annex in Mountlake Terrace.

It isn't required but "it would definitely make a difference if customers provided safe access to their mailbox by removing snow and ice."

Customers whose mail comes via the North City Post Office may be able to pick up their mail at the Carrier Annex but if the carrier is on his/her route, the mail would be with him/her.

The Carrier Annex is at Gateway Place in Mountlake Terrace, 6005 244th St SW, Ste 101, Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043. It is in the old Office Depot building next to the Cinebarre movie theater and the Mazatlan Mexican restaurant.

Or you can wait for your road to be clear.

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Serving others in spite of snow, wind, and weather

Shoreline Fire on a call
Photo by Wayne Pridemore

By Wayne Pridemore and Diane Hettrick

Early Saturday morning there were those out in the snow who were working serving others.

Medic One on a call in the snow
Photo by Wayne Pridemore

The Shoreline Fire Department was making an emergency call at 20th Ave NW and Richmond Beach Road.

Nor sleet nor storm nor dark of night...
Photo by Wayne Pridemore

Just minutes later mailman Steve Kinsman, aka Frosty, was making a delivery on 20th Ave NW. 

Steve Kinsman delivering mail
Photo by Wayne Pridemore

 

Steve has been working this route for years. If you are near the mailbox when he comes past he will always greet you with a big smile and a friendly comment. In a couple of months Steve will have been a postal employee for forty years. He is really an outstanding individual. 

Bank robbery at North City Safeway
Photo by Lisa Nordblad

And Friday, the Shoreline Police were on the job, responding to a bank robbery at the US Bank inside the North City Safeway. They brought in a tracking K9 but were unable to locate the robber. It was all over so quickly that most shoppers did not even realize there was a problem.

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Post Office still looking for a permanent site in Shoreline

Retail services at Gateway Plaza 185th / Midvale
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

The U.S. Postal Service has made no progress in finding a site to consolidate its services in Shoreline.

"Nothing new to report, according to our Facilities Office. They would still like to find a suitable, single site where we could have the carriers and the retail in one convenient location. Failing that, we may look into extending the leases on the two locations we are currently using."

The retail services are at Gateway Plaza at 185th and Aurora / Midvale in Shoreline. The processing center is in the old Office Depot building at Gateway Place in Mountlake Terrace. The vans are parked on City of Shoreline property at the old Brightwater portal on Ballinger.

The North City post office was demolished after the land was sold to a developer.

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Stamp out hunger - Saturday - postal carrier Blue Bags

WHAT’S WITH ALL THE BLUE BAGS???

That’s what everyone will be asking on Saturday, May 12, 2018

Here’s what you can tell them.

It’s our friends and neighbors helping to “Stamp Out Hunger”

The National Association of Letter Carriers annual food drive will collect nearly a half-million pounds of food for food banks in Western Washington.

Blue bags are being distributed this week, and postal customers are asked to fill this bag with non-perishable food items. Letter carriers will pick up these bags at mailboxes all day Saturday, May 12.

Food Lifeline (the food banks' Food Bank) is proud to be a partner in the “Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive”, providing the muscle, the storage, and our network of more than 300 food banks, shelters and meal programs to help distribute all of the donated food.

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Photo: Shoreline Apartments

Shoreline Apartments
Photo by Mike Remarcke

Construction has begun on the Shoreline Apartments in North City at the corner of 15th NE and NE 175th St.

The building will have 243 apartments, with underground parking. Shoreline building code requires the ground floor to be designed for business and retail, but developers do not plan to use it that way.

Structural concrete pours will soon begin and are scheduled to be complete in August. Framing will start in August. The building is expected to be complete the middle of December 2019.

The site is the former location of the North City Post Office.

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Informed Delivery - know what's coming in the mail

Are you worried about mail theft?

If you are concerned that your mail is being interfered with, you may want to sign up for a free service from the post office.

The USPS has a free service that sends you photos of your incoming mail for that day.

The program lets users view images of letter-sized mailpieces and real time delivery information on packages.

Although, remember that the best deterrent against mail theft is a locking mailbox.

More information or sign up at Informed Delivery It is available for Shoreline / LFP ZIP codes.

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Excavation to begin soon for Shoreline Apartments in North City

The site of the Shoreline Apartments, at NE 175th and 15th NE, has been completely cleared and the next step is full scale excavation.

Excavation was scheduled for this week, but construction is often weather dependent, particularly in the early stages.

Structural concrete pours are planned to begin around the middle of April and are scheduled to be complete by middle/end of August.

Framing starts middle of August.

Completion middle of December 2019.

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Photo: Old North City Post Office demolished

Photo by Steven H. Robinson

The old North City Post Office has been completely demolished. All that's left is the concrete pad that covered the site for the building, customer, van, and employee parking.

The post office is now in three different locations: retail services at Gateway Plaza, 185th and Aurora; processing center at the old Office Depot in Mountlake Terrace; and van parking at the Ballinger Portal site on Ballinger Way.

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Demolition of North City Post Office

Demolition proceeds for the old North City Post Office
Photo by Cynthia Sheridan

Text and photo by Cynthia Sheridan

It's Demo Day! According to the on-site contractor, this process will proceed rapidly. In a day or two the sub-contractor will have completed demolition of the building.

A second sub -contractor will then come and tear out the foundation. Next, two levels of below-ground parking will be installed.

And finally the two apartment towers will be built. North City looks forward to welcoming its new neighbors but we miss our post office, especially the outgoing mailbox.

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