USPS to slow first class mail, close centers in Ga. and Ala.

The U.S. Postal Service is moving ahead with plans to close some Georgia and Alabama mail facilities, part of a nationwide effort to cut costs. Officials predict the closings would also slow the delivery of first-class mail.

The cuts would close 252 of the nation's 461 mail processing centers beginning next spring. They would result in the elimination of roughly 28,000 jobs.

The Alabama facilities in danger of closing are in Anniston, Dothan, Huntsville, Mobile and Tuscaloosa. Those in Georgia are in Acworth, Albany, Athens, Augusta, Cartersville, Columbus, Douglasville, Marietta, Savannah, Swainsboro, Valdosta and Waycross.

The cuts are part of $3 billion in reductions aimed at helping the agency avert bankruptcy next year. They would virtually eliminate the chance for stamped letters to arrive the next day, a change in first-class delivery standards that have been in place since 1971.