“For him to stand there and say that we can’t be trusted, he is insulting every postal employee in this country,” Headrick said of Trump. “I was delivering things today from his campaign. But I can be trusted with that, right? Yeah.”

This is only the latest round of shenanigans since Louis DeJoy, a Republican mega-donor who owns stock in Amazon and UPS, became postmaster general in May. The changes he has made since then, from cutting overtime to removing mail processing equipment, are at the root of many of the delivery delays that we’ve have endured even in Los Angeles.

The USPS has already warned officials in 46 states, including California, that it can’t guarantee all ballots cast by mail will arrive in time to be counted for the November election, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

Source: Trump’s USPS fight hurts his voters before election – Los Angeles Times

Ohio is among the 46 states that recently received a warning from U.S. Postal Service officials that deadlines laid out in the state’s mail-voting laws may result in voters being disenfranchised.

Source: Ohio among states warned by U.S. Postal Service that mail-voting deadlines could disenfranchise voters – cleveland.com

The senators say they’ve heard from hundreds of veterans, as well as Department of Veterans Affairs staff, who cited weeks long mail delays, “causing veterans to miss doses of vital medications.”

Source: Lawmakers: Postal changes delay mail-order medicine for vets – SFGate

If you had any doubt that Donald Trump is trying to ruin the Postal Service in an attempt to hold onto the office that — if the polls are correct — appears to be slipping away from him, you need to watch the interview he did Thursday with Fox Business News’ Maria Bartiromo.

In the interview he suggested he would block funding to the U.S. Postal Service because he feared additional funds the agency receives could be used to process and deliver mail-in ballots for this year’s November election.

Source: Trump will destroy the Postal Service. Mitch McConnell can’t let him

There were about 15 people in the May 4 meeting in Houston, with about 10 more calling in remotely, when Al Hartman, the CEO of commercial real estate company Hartman Income REIT, turned to a 20-year-old employee.

“We didn’t even get to start the meeting, and Al looked directly at him and said, ‘Take off your mask,’” said one employee, who — like all four others interviewed for this story — asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.

The young worker refused — he had an elderly grandma at home he couldn’t put at risk. So Hartman gave him an ultimatum.

“Hartman said, ‘Well, you can either take off your mask, or you can go home,’” the employee witnessing the exchange recalled. “He threw him out of the meeting in front of about 25 people, and it was very embarrassing and very humiliating.”

Staff in Hartman Income REIT’s Houston headquarters say they are now dealing with a suspected coronavirus outbreak in their office. At least three employees have returned a positive COVID-19 test, staff told BuzzFeed News, while many others are experiencing symptoms. (OSHA says coronavirus infections are likely work-related “when several cases develop among workers who work closely together and there is no alternative explanation.”) Many of the Hartman Income REIT workers are single parents, caretakers for elderly relatives, or have comorbidities that put them at serious risk for complications with the virus. Still, they do not wear masks, out of fear of losing their jobs during such a difficult economic time.

Source: Texas Boss Won’t Allow Masks In Office, Workers Say

Friday’s total of new COVID-19 cases reported to the Orange County Health Care Agency is 683, up from 348 the day before. There were 20 deaths, down from 24 the day before. The new to-date total for Orange County cases is 42,854, of which 33,697 are judged recovered. The death toll is 789. The test […]

Friday coronavirus up to 683 — ORANGE COUNTY TRIBUNE