Residents of a small southeast Iowa town are fighting to keep their community hub. The U-S Postal Service recently contacted the 143 residents of Harper that once their postal clerk finishes her services on Friday, they plan to put the post office on suspension for closure.
Mayor Shirley Altenhofen says residents are very upset with the move by the postal service, and with many older residents in the small community it will be difficult for them to travel to Keota to mail packages.
"We’re going to mount a campaign as far as we can," Altenhofen says. "We already know they’re going to put us into suspension, and at that point we’re going to start fighting up the ladder to see if we can’t get it to be re-opened."
A town hall meeting with representatives from the postal service Thursday is the first step Altenhofen says the community is taking to keep their local post office and gathering place.