Technology & Innovation — November 19, 2009

Santa Scandal

A service by North Pole dwellers to answer letters addressed to Santa has been suspended after a sex offender was recognized as a volunteer.

bigthinkeditor

“Thousands of starry-eyed children all over the world are writing letters to the jolly man at the North Pole this holiday season, but they will not likely get a response from Santa Claus or his helpers,” writes Fox News. “The U.S. Postal Service is dropping a popular effort begun in 1954 in the small Alaska town of North Pole, where volunteers open and respond to thousands of letters addressed to Santa each year. Replies come with North Pole postmarks. Postal Service officials said they are tightening rules in such programs nationwide after a postal worker in Maryland recognized a volunteer in the agency’s Operation Santa program as a registered sex offender. The postal worker interceded before the individual could answer a child’s letter, but the Postal Service viewed the episode as a big enough scare to make changes to the program.”

Two hands making a pinky promise with a notification icon showing one like against a blue background.

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