Mt. Prospect post office to open earlier Saturdays

Beginning this weekend, the Mount Prospect Post Office, 300 W. Central Road, will open one hour earlier on Saturdays to make it more convenient for customers.

With the new hours the post office will open at 7:30 a.m. and close at 3 p.m. Its weekday hours, from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, will remain the same.

"We want to make using the post office quick, easy and convenient for our customers," said Acting Postmaster Mike Naranjo in a statement. "This is just another way we're working to better meet our customers' shopping and mailing needs."

The office is also offering an automated postal center that is open all the time.

"Our APC works much like an automated teller machine," Naranjo said in a statement. "The ATM-like kiosks accept credit or debit cards and can handle about 80 percent of typical postal transactions -- like weigh packages and buying postage for express, priority, first-class and parcel post mail."

Put storage containers away: Prospect Heights recently passed an ordinance that put a time limit on how long residents can leave out their portable storage containers.

Now residents can't have containers out more than 60 consecutive days in a year.

Violators will receive from the city a notice of violation, giving the resident 10 days to comply.

After that time, an inspection would be scheduled and if the violation continues, a $50 citation would be issued, with an additional 10 days to comply and remittance of the citation.

Failure to comply after that would result in the issuance of a "notice to appear" in housing court on the next scheduled date, city officials said.

Take a trip: Explore the natural history, heritage, and cultural diversity of Belize on a tour offered through the Oakton Community College travel/study program. Tours in 2008 depart in February and March.

Located in northeastern Central America, Belize is home to more than 600 archeological sites and forests teeming with wildlife.

The country also is home to many important Mayan sites, some of which are still undergoing extensive excavations.

Optional extensions to the Mayan ruins at Tikal National Park on the Guatemalan border and Ambergris Caye, a popular location for snorkeling and diving, also are available.

For details, contact Bea Cornelissen at (847) 635-1812 or visit www.oakton.edu/news/first/travel.htm.