Cost to mail letter rising one cent Monday
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com

This is the last week a 41- cent stamp will get your letters where they need to go.

Effective Monday, May 12, the U.S. Postal Service cost for a standard 1 ounce letter goes up a penny with other adjustments made for shipping packages. Two ounces will cost 59 cents to mail.

Only the "Forever" stamp will honored at the 41-cent price so long as it is purchased prior to Monday.

Post cards will be 27 cents and with the change, Express Mail is switching to zone-based pricing.

The El Campo post office reportedly has plenty of the new 42-cent stamps available for sale.

Among the new stamps being offered by the Post Office is a reissue of the Purple Heart stamp which went on sale April 30.

The stamp was first issued in 2003.

First authorized in 1782 by General George Washington, the Purple Heart - literally a heart-shaped piece of cloth - was first issued in 1783 as the Badge of Military Merit.

At the time, it was the only award available to enlisted as well as officers.

Also available in a 42 cent stamp is the Flags 24/7 - a series of paintings of the American flag flying at sunrise, noon, sunset and night.