Postcards
Identity crisis
Bridgeport, Conn.; Pasadena, Calif.; Newark, N.J.; and St. Petersburg, Fla., are among the dozen cities that will lose their postmarks as a result of a U.S. Postal Service consolidation that began last year to reduce processing centers and employees, according to USA Today. With the increasing use of e-mail and the Internet for communication, Americans are sending less first-class mail. “We really just see this as sort of a slight at our attempts to reinvigorate ourselves as a cultural center and an important place for business,” Linda Caldwell Epps, president of the New Jersey Historical Society, told the paper.
Who wants to be a millionaire?
A development deal is set to make Briny Breezes, Fla., residents wealthy. Homeowners in the 43-acre trailer-park town with 488 mobile homes voted to sell the tiny community to a developer, granting more than $1 million each to most residents, according to The Associated Press. The developer purchased the land for more than $510 million to make way for condos, a hotel and a marina. The contract will become official in 2009, and residents — many of whom purchased their homes for as little as $35,000 — plan to enjoy their final two years there.