Across Northern Minnesota, the U.S. Postal Service is bumping up post office pickup times with the impending closure of the Duluth mail processing center. Starting April 18, Duluth post office mail will be picked up at 3:15 p.m., with much earlier times in post offices outside of the Zenith City. Places like Floodwood and Alborn will see pickup times at 9 a.m., while I noticed that the new time in Grand Rapids would be 12:15 p.m. Signs are posted on mailboxes across the region explaining the changes.

In addition to the earlier pickup times, customers can expect an additional day or two added to the usual delivery time. Northern Minnesota’s mail will now be processed in Eagan and shipped to and fro by truck.