CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- The U.S. Postal Service says it's closing three mail processing centers and eliminating about 1,490 jobs in West Virginia, Indiana and Arizona.
Spokeswoman Freda Sauter said Thursday the closings aren't directly related to the service's financial woes. They are among five of 55 centers opened in 1990 to handle mail that couldn't be read by optical scanners.
Sauter says better scanners now read 95 percent of handwritten addresses. The centers in Charleston, Fort Wayne, Ind., and Glendale, Ariz.
Centers in Wichita, Kan., and Salt Lake City will remain open.
The Postal Service expects the cuts to save approximately $4.9 million. The agency is in the midst of broad cost-cutting efforts after losing $2.8 billion last year.
