Cook County east end residents go full week without USPS delivery service

Residents of Cook County’s east end went without mail delivery from the United States Postal Service for the first week of the new year.

Several residents who live on the mail route that serves the east end of the county, including Colvill, Hovland, and Grand Portage contacted WTIP about the delivery interruption. They reported that they had not received any mail since the end of December.

When asked about the delivery interruptions, the Grand Marais United States Postal Service (USPS) employees told WTIP that they are not able to comment to the media about the situation or speak on behalf of the USPS. The Grand Marais Postmaster, Katie Kieffer, is currently out of town and has not responded to WTIP’s request for comment.

WTIP contacted Desai Abdul-Razzaaq, the USPS strategic communications specialist for Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota about the cause of the delivery interruptions. Abdul-Razzaaq wrote in an email response “Local management and district leadership are aware of the delivery issue in Grand Marais and taking steps to address the concerns.”

Abdul-Razzaaq did not respond to specific questions about whether customers could access their undelivered mail, especially if they were expecting time-sensitive material or things like prescription medications. In terms of what options residents have, he wrote:

When mail service issues occur, we take steps to quickly resolve customer concerns.  We gladly work to address any specific issue from the community when brought to our attention and we encourage customers to reach out to their local postal station. Customers can also go to our website usps.com and click on “Contact us” at the bottom of our homepage, or utilize this direct web address: https://usps.force.com/emailus/s/. Every email will be carefully documented and appropriate action taken to strengthen service.

In addition, the official X (formerly Twitter) account of the United States Postal Service, managed by the Social Media staff at USPS HQ, can provide help. For customer service, please tweet @USPSHelp. The Postal Service will diligently continue to investigate customer’s concerns and correct deficiencies to improve service to our communities.

Despite the advice from Abdul-Razzaaq for customers to contact their local post office, those who tried to pick up their mail have come up short.

One east end resident told WTIP that she noticed the interruption to delivery service when a package she was expecting never arrived. She said that she went to the post office in Grand Marais, and was told that the employees were not allowed to hand out the mail that should have been delivered, and that the mail for that route had not been sorted.

Possible cause of delivery interruption

Delivery in Cook County is done by contractors, who also sort the mail for their routes. In some rural settings, contractors may work through a third party company. In Cook County contractors work independently, rather than through a separate company, and contract directly with the USPS.

The previous mail carrier for the east end route ended their contract on Dec. 31, 2024. Residents who spoke with WTIP reported that postal employees at the Grand Marais post office told them that the contractor who was supposed to take the route over never arrived. WTIP has not been able to officially confirm this with USPS.

Looking for solutions

Several east end residents told WTIP that they contacted their elected officials about the delivery issue.

Charlotte Hoffman, press secretary for U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, confirmed that the Senator is aware of the issue, and that her team is “working to get more answers from USPS.” Hoffman told WTIP that “The Senator is also looking at other actions she can take to pressure them into sorting this out.”

After a week of delay, WTIP was made aware that mail and packages were delivered on Jan. 8. It is unconfirmed whether the Jan. 8 delivery will mean that regular service has resumed. The Grand Marais post office was unable to provide a statement on whether the issue has been resolved.

This is an ongoing story and WTIP will provide further information and updates as they become available.

Kirsten Wisniewski January 8, 2025