Rallies will be held across the country next week. The move comes just days after President Barack Obama proposed reducing mail delivery to five-days-a-week.

About 2,000 letter carriers throughout the Twin Cities metro area Saturday hope to pick up as much as 1.3 million pounds of food during the 20th Annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive. Letter carriers ask the public to leave bags of non-perishable, non-breakable food items by their mailbox.

The Postal Service says the closing of mail processing centers in Duluth, Rochester, Waite Park, and Mankato is a recommendation. Initial news reports had the centers closing next spring as part of a nation-wide downsizing of the Postal Service.

The U.S. Postal Service is pushing ahead with unprecedented cuts to first-class mail next spring that will slow delivery and -- for the first time in 40 years -- eliminate the chance for stamped letters to arrive the next day.

The Austin Daily Herald reports Doyle Tarrence of Spring Valley is accused of stealing money from greeting cards in the Lyle area last year. According to court records, the 47-year-old postal carrier has admitted to taking $200 to $300 over a four-month period.

Siri Freeh, of Lake Park, was among 22 contestants in the 2012 Miss Minnesota Scholarship Pageant. Freeh, 22, is a nursing major at the University of Minnesota. In January, she will compete for the Miss America crown in Las Vegas.