European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 31, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday january 31. 1988 the stars and stripes Page 7 postal service to Cut window hours sunday shifts in Effort to trim costs  York int the . Postal service will Pul new Cost cutting measures into effect in mid february including a one Day delay in delivery that will affect most of the first class Fetters that Are mailed on sundays. It will also impose a 9 percent reduction in the hours retail windows Are open and postpone several Hundred planned mail processing facilities. Postmaster general Preston r. Tisch said the changes really won t of Eccl postal customers that Hadly in the Short run. He said the changes were necessitated by a congressional order to reduce postal spend ing j 1.2 billion Over the next 21 months to Cut the Federal deficit. He said customers will be Hurt More in i99i and i992" because the sen ice will not be Able to build enough mail handling plants to keep Pace with vol ume. Of the $1.2 billion. $430 million is not to be spent and $830 million in out lays for modern Alion is to be deferred. The one Day delay in delivery will re sult from eliminating the work shift that processes the bulk of the 20 million first class letters that arc deposited in mail Bones on an average sunday a fraction of the 3 billion pieces transported by the postal service each week. Postal officials say the delay in handling mail on Sun Days will not affect mail processing on any other Day of the week but major customers and employee representatives of the postal service arc sceptical. Delivery is erratic enough now and further delays will make it harder to pre dict when mail will arrive said Richard a. Barton a senior vice president at the direct marketing association a Trade group that represents 3.000 bulk mailers. Union officials who represent mail clerks foresee increased workloads be cause one of three eight hour shifts on sunday will be eliminated. They also warn of further delays As antiquated facilities in some metropolitan areas be come overloaded. William Burrus executive vice presi Dent of the american postal workers Union said the increased workload. Combined with a projected 5.5 percent increase in mail volume this year could cause severe service disruptions in some metropolitan areas. The biggest Impact will be in those key hubs with outmoded facilities including new York. Chicago los Angeles and Philadelphia he predicted. Burrus said he was also concerned that the cutback in window service if based strictly on a local Post office s volume of mail might cause More restrictive hours in poor neighbourhoods than in affluent ones. James Van Loozin a spokesman for the postal service which has almost800,000 employees said. We arc certainly aware of these concerns we share the concern and we will do everything we can to avoid any major service  the one aspect of the budget reduction that seems to Gall nearly everyone postal officials Union leaders Indus try representatives and even the key legislators who specified the reductions i that the spending restraints appear to serve Little productive purpose in their View preventing the postal service from spending its Revenue is largely a Book keeping device that helps put govern ment spending in technical compliance with the Federal deficit reducing Law. John e. Mulligan senior assistant postmaster general for operations said guidelines he was about to distribute to District managers would have these effect on deliveries local mail which represents about half the mail put in boxes on sunday will be delivered on tuesday rather than on monday. At present the postal serv ice says 9x5 percent of this local mail is delivered overnight. Some of the mail bound for locations within a 600-mile radius will continue to be delivered on tuesday Al though most of it will be delivered on wednesday. The postal service says that 87.5 percent of this mail is now delivered within two Days. Most of the mail destined for locations beyond 600 Miles will continue to be delivered on wednesday although some of it will be delivered on thursday. Morton Thi Okol sued by widow of astronaut Richmond. A. Up1 the widow of challenger co Pilot Michael Smith has filed a second suit i Federal court alleging that Morton Thi Okol inc. Is responsible for engineering defects that caused the space shuttle disaster two years ago. The lawsuit filed by Jane Smith in . District court on the second anniversary of the explosion that killed her husband and six other Crew members seeks damages in an amount to be determined by a jury the Richmond news Leader reported. The complaint apparently is identical to one filed by Smith in May 1987 in Federal court in Florida the newspaper reported. However no action has Bee taken on the Florida complaint against Morton Thio Kol. According to the new suit. Thus the extraordinarily congested court docket in the Middle i strict of Florida has effectively denied plaintiff Smith Access to the courts so that plaintiff Snow Institute this attention says the suit which was filed thursday. The Florida ease remains Active and both complaints will move independently according to a lawyer for a Richmond Law firm acting As local counsel in the matter. A North Carolina Law firm is representing Smith. Attorneys would not comment on Why a Federal court in Virginia was chosen for the lawsuit though the Eastern District which includes Richmond Norfolk and Alexandria is known for moving cases along rapidly to Resolution. Morton Thi Okol a Delaware corporation with its Prin Cipal offices in Chicago does business and has offices in Virginia and therefore the filing adheres with Federal diversity of Iii Enship rules. Smith lives in Texas. The company had the contract with the National aeronautics and space administration for designing rocket boosters for he shuttle program. Baby baggage Amtrak Redcap Jack Sullivan has unusual cargo on his baggage cart eight month old twins Paula and Erin Mcdonald. The babies and their Mother Christine Mcdonald arrived in Boston Friday after being passengers on a train that derailed near Chester a. They Here not among 24 injured in the Accident. Utah forger gets life term for bombing deaths Point of the Mountain Utah api a Man who killed two people with bombs to cover up his forgeries of historical documents must spend the rest of his life in prison the Utah Board of pardons decided. The unusual decision came after Mark Hermann said he Felt remorse for the families of his victims in the two 1985 bombings that Shook the predominantly mormon stale. Defense attorney Brad Rich said the Board historically had set another parole hearing Date for 10 years later in Homi cide cases. The Church had been one of the most avid customers for Hofmann s business As a dealer in historical documents. We arc impressed that there were a Large number of victims and that there was callous disregard for life and that the crimes were an attempt to cover up other crimes Vicic sri Palacios the Board chairwoman said in announcing the 2-1 decision. Defense attorney Ron Yungich. In Aletter to the Board released thursday requested that Hofmann be treated like any other first time offender and be considered for parole after seven years. Hofmann pleaded guilty a year ago to two counts of second degree murder and two counts of forgery in the oct. 15, 1985. Bombing deaths of Steve Chris Lensun and Kathleen sheets. Hofmann said the two were killed to cover up his dealings in fraudulent mormon and other historical documents. Hofmann 33, initially was charged with first degree murder but a plea bar gain agreement allowed him to plead to the lesser charge which carries a Penally of five years to life in prison. Hofmann gained prominence in 1980 by finding a manuscript purportedly written by mormon Church founder Joseph Smith. The document painted Smith As a treasure Hunter interested in magic instead of a Prophet Given scrip Ture by Angels As the Church contends