Bruins

There are many reasons for Bruins fans to be disenchanted from the 2024-25 season.

David Pastrnak just isn’t considered one of them.

The deputy captain of Boston has been very effective for the reason that starting of 2025, and despite his slow start within the season, he stays as much as 100 points for the third time in a row.

Pastrnak scored first for the Bruins on Saturday evening, scored a reasonably goal for the outlier and quickly prolonged his skilled point series to 17 games. He has a big charge for Boston and for the reason that starting of the calendar 12 months 2025 Pastrnak leads the NHL in destinations and points.

Pastrnak took two points on Saturday and picked up an assist to make his lamp easier.

Despite these efforts, Boston is firmly on the skin of the Playoff bubble, which helped regulate the regulation on Saturday, however the Bruins are still two points from the ultimate Eastern Conference Wildcard Spot and have fewer games than the opposite teams within the Playoff picture.

Nevertheless, Pastrnak just isn’t able to sow the situation in a self -pity by which Boston is situated. He quickly released the concept that the bruins can exhale just a little after they’ve caught their losing strips.

“No, we will play the game for game. We finally got a victory [but] We have to group new to tomorrow, ”said Pastrnak. “We will fight to the end. We won't give up here, and we know that we are standing and how close the view is.

“We can definitely survive and I think we have to accept and enjoy it to have fun with these games. They make sense each of them. I personally love that. “

The Bruins have a difficult technique to position themselves for the playoffs. But Pastrnak continues to fireside on all cylinders, helps Boston's hopes to achieve the Stanley Cup playoffs under unlikely circumstances.

The Bruins will play the second half of their back leader on Sunday and take the Minnesota wildly at 3:30 p.m.

The Autoonation Autoonation Autoonation has agreed to pay $ 650,000 in fines and revise its guidelines in an effort to pay a lawsuit with six counties from the Bay Area from the Bay Area, the late title transfer practices, the used automotive buyers to officially own their vehicles.

District prosecutors within the districts of Santa Clara, San Francisco, Sonoma, Los Angeles, Riverside and Ventura sued the autonation that 42 of its dealers had violated laws based on which they’d to attentive the DMV, and in addition often known as a Pink Slip, inside 30 days of the acquisition.

The alleged delays meant that buyers could officially claim the cars as their ownership in the event that they desired to resell the vehicles, refinance or offer the vehicles as a loan protection. The investigators estimate that hundreds of late transfers decreased to 2019.

According to several district prosecutor's office, the comparison conditions will not be permitted and 450,000 US dollars in civil law sanctions, $ 150,000 in investigative costs and $ 50,000 that run towards state consumer protection programs. William Monahan, judge of Santa Clara County's Supreme Court, signed the attitude that was submitted on Tuesday.

The autonation can also be obliged to “implement guidelines in order that you’ve gotten received registration and paperwork in good time, depending on the billing conditions. This includes stopping a caralo without giving access to the title. Smog check and VIN check required before a sale; have sufficient staff to process title transfers and a manager who’s commissioned to comply with; And to lift sales commissions for purchases wherein timely transmission shouldn’t be possible.

“People who buy cars with their hard -earned money rightly expect to get property on time,” said Jeff Rosen, district prosecutor of Santa Clara County.

The district prosecutor of San Francisco, Brooke Jenkins, added in an announcement: “I am pleased that these dealers have made changes that minimize the number of problems that can occur in the future.”

Originally published: February 26, 2025 at 12:14 p.m. PST

Celtics

The Celtics needed to work for it, but they managed to search out a creative strategy to defeat Trae Young and the Hawks 119-115 on Saturday.

Here are the snack bars.

The Celtics had the sport under control.

We can't emphasize enough how badly the Celtics blew this game.

The Hawks put up a superb fight and definitely had their very own opportunities to drag away, however the Celtics appeared to have done simply enough to secure the win with 30 seconds left.

With the sport tied at 100, Jaylen Brown gave himself some space with an attractive turnaround jumper and the Celtics took the lead.

On the opposite side, the Hawks threw the ball away and commenced to implode – Trae Young complained a few technical error, apparently under the impression that Jrue Holiday was going to grab him, and the Celtics went up by three when Tatum took the free kick throw.

That must have been it – the Celtics must have been in a position to pound the ball in, make a number of free throws and get the win.

Instead, Holiday escaped near the rim and took a pass from Tatum. Instead of holding onto the ball (or putting it in) and taking a two-possession lead, Holiday gave the Hawks life by throwing it out of bounds in the primary of two disastrous miscues down the stretch.

On the opposite hand, the Celtics intentionally fouled Trae Young (and we would love to take this chance to reiterate that the NBA needs to vary its foul-up-by-three rules to maintain exciting basketball games flowing). Young made each free throws, and the Hawks fouled Tatum, sending him to the road and giving him a probability to take a two-point lead.

Tatum went 1-for-2 to place the Celtics ahead by two.

Then Holiday made his second disastrous decision, inexplicably fouling Young again. Predictably, the profession 87.3 percent free throw shooter did each, Tatum missed a turnaround shot and the sport went into extra time.

Overtime was intense, with multiple stops and starts and an altercation that just about resulted in Tatum – who was already in a technical – being ejected from the sport (when you want a little bit chat after one other disheartening loss, note that Joe Mazzulla pumps his fist and claps). when the 2 teams fought with one another).

But the Celtics almost had a probability to show a well-deserved loss right into a win in the ultimate seconds when Jalen Johnson missed two free throws and the Hawks took a one-point lead.

Instead, Onyeka Okongwu thoroughly outmaneuvered Neemias Queta, grabbed the offensive rebound and made two free throws when he was fouled. The Hawks played the remaining of the sport effectively.

The Celtics could have done a number of things higher to win, but perhaps most frustrating for Celtics fans will likely be the indisputable fact that, for all their problems, they still could have (and will have) won on Saturday.

Instead, they may embark on an prolonged road trip through which the great vibes created by Friday's win over the Magic have largely been erased.

The Celtics couldn't shoot (again).

The Celtics shot well against the Magic, and that didn't fix their problems (whatever those problems could also be). As a team, they shot 40-104 (38.5 percent). From three it was 15 to 52 (28.8 percent). Their saving grace – or a minimum of their near saving grace – was that the Hawks one way or the other underperformed from three games: 9 for 37 (24.3 percent).

The individual statistics are brutal:

• Jaylen Brown was 9 of 27 and a pair of of 9 from three games.
• Tatum was also 7 of 21 and a pair of of 9 from three games.
• Derrick White was 5 of 16 from three games alone and seven of 20 overall.

It appears the shooting will proceed until the chances rise. Morality is nowhere to be found.

Jaylen Brown hit his head off the bottom.

Here's a clip of a fall Brown took in extra time. Don't watch it when you're squeamish.

Brown stayed in the sport, and while we fully acknowledge that we don't have a medical degree here, that call seemed questionable considering Brown's head landed squarely on the hardwood floor with no support. We hope he's doing well.

Luke Kornet was a superb starter.

The Celtics opted to play each Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford at the highest of their matchup, and while Porzingis played sparingly and hinted that he might play on the second night as well, the Celtics as a substitute went to Kornet to guide their matchup start location.

They weren't dissatisfied. Kornet finished the sport with good statistics – 17 points, 7-for-9 shooting and 7 rebounds – and was extremely effective on each ends. Perhaps most notably, he earned six second-chance opportunities on offensive boards in addition to 4 steals, all of which got here in the primary quarter.

The Celtics were 5.0 points per 100 possessions higher defensively this season with Kornet on the sector as a substitute of off it. That's the 86th percentile league-wide and the perfect on the team by a comparatively large margin. Even on an evening when things weren't easy for the Celtics, Kornet's presence once more made it possible for the Celtics to have an injury-prone starting center with a 38-year-old backup.

Sam Hauser missed a point-blank dunk.

With the Celtics struggling to attain, perhaps no single play summed it up higher than a fast attack late within the third quarter.

With lower than a minute left, because the Celtics were beginning to put some things together, Tatum snuck right into a passing lane and intercepted a pass from Trae Young. Tatum had the chance to get revenge on two different teammates running in front of him and selected Hauser, who was sprinting before the play.

Hauser appeared to have thrown down a wide-open dunk, and he looked confident going up.

Oops.

No major damage was done – the Hawks went out of bounds, then committed a foul that sent the Celtics to the road and still allowed them to make it 2-1.

Still, the noise TD Garden made — roaring as Hauser broke away, then groaning as his dunk inexplicably popped out — was each appropriate and quite funny.

Hauser finished the sport 0-7 from the sector and 0-5 from three.

The Celtics are heading west.

The Celtics will now go on tour again. They face the Warriors on Monday at 5 p.m. before two games against the Clippers and Lakers on Wednesday and Thursday.

If you're anxious about finding the best gift and ensuring the recipient receives it on time, you're not alone. More than half of Americans say that Gift giving stresses her out.

Concerns about on-time delivery are so widespread that folks share holidays Deadlines for every shipping service. And in case you possibly can't meet these deadlines, there are actually practical ones Etiquette Guides Providing advice to tell the recipient.

If you sent late gifts, thanks Delivery delays, depleted supplies and even good quaint Procrastinationour latest research could offer some encouraging news.

In a series of studies forthcoming within the Journal of Consumer Psychology, we found that folks overestimate the negative consequences of a delayed gift.

I attempt to follow norms

Why do people are inclined to overestimate these consequences? Our results show that folks pay more attention to gift giving to the donation norms because the recipients.

For example, other researchers have found that folks are inclined to be reluctant to present used products as gifts because there’s a norm that gifts must be latest. However, in point of fact, many persons are often open to receiving used items.

We found that this discrepancy also applies to beliefs concerning the importance of timing. Many people fear that a late gift will signal that they don't care concerning the recipient. They then fear that their relationship will suffer.

In reality, these fears are largely unfounded. Gift recipients are much less anxious about when the gift will arrive.

Unfortunately, excessive sensitivity when giving a late gift cannot only cause unnecessary worry, but in addition influence the alternative of gift.

Compensate for delays

To test how delay concerns affect gift selections, we conducted an internet study ahead of Mother's Day in 2021. 201 adults took part in a raffle. They could either send their mother a less expensive gift basket that arrived in time for the occasion or a costlier one which arrived late.

Concerns about delay led to almost 70% of participants selecting the cheaper and faster option.

In one other study, we conducted the identical variety of raffle for Father's Day and got similar results.

Aside from people selecting low-quality items to make sure faster delivery, we also found that givers may feel like they’ll make up for the delay with effort.

In one other online study of 805 adults, we found that participants were less prone to expect a delayed delivery to harm a relationship after they expressed their take care of the recipient in other ways. For example, they believed that assembling an item by hand moderately than purchasing it pre-assembled could make up for a late delivery of a present.

Better late than never?

If sending something late isn't as bad as expected, you could be wondering if it's okay to only not send anything in any respect.

We would caution against going this route.

In one other online study of 903 participants, we found that recipients felt that receiving nothing in any respect could be more damaging to a relationship than receiving something as much as two months late.

This implies that late is best than never for the recipient.

You might need to keep this in mind, even when it's latest Games console, Action figure or Virtual reality headset is sold out this Christmas season. It could still be a welcome surprise when it arrives in January or February.

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence was carted off the sector within the second quarter of Sunday's game against the Houston Texans after linebacker Azeez Al-Shair delivered a late, hard hit while Lawrence slipped. The Jaguars later ruled Lawrence out of the sport on account of a concussion.

After the hit, Jaguars tight end Evan Engram ran over to Al-Shaair and pushed him while Lawrence remained on the bottom. While medical personnel tended to Lawrence, a scuffle broke out between Jaguars and Texans players.

Officials ejected Al-Shair and Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones from the sport for unnecessary roughness, and Engram received a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness. Coaches and officials needed to escort Al-Shaair off the sector because he continued to argue with Jaguars players, particularly offensive tackle Brandon Scherff.

As Al-Shair left the sector, he interacted with Jaguars fans who were seen throwing objects and trash on the 27-year-old linebacker.

Here's what Texas QB CJ Stroud needed to say about Azeez Al-Shair's hit on Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence. pic.twitter.com/JxsjNPoz9w

– FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 1, 2024

“(This hit) is not representative of us,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans told Fox Sports at halftime.

When asked for clarification on the sending offs of Al-Shair and Jones, referee Land Clark said Al-Shair committed an illegal hit against Lawrence and Jones because he got here off the bench and threw a punch at a player. Clark said Engram was not ejected because his jab “did not warrant a disqualification, but it was unnecessary roughness.”

Engram said he pushed Al-Shair because his instincts took over after seeing the hit on Lawrence and he desired to get up for the quarterback.

“It was a dirty hit,” Engram said. “These hits are always questionable. … I saw (Lawrence) slip and then I saw the hit. Honestly, (instinct) took over. I just knew it was wrong. It was just a dirty game and you stand up for your boys.”

Texas quarterback CJ Stroud said, “It was tough, man, to see Trev go out like that,” but defended Al-Shaair. “Azeez, I don’t think that’s his intention. … I know he didn't mean to do that. He needs to be more careful.”

Sunday was Lawrence's first game since Week 9 as he recovered from a shoulder injury. Before suffering the concussion, Lawrence was 4 of 10 for 41 yards with one interception. Backup QB Mac Jones took Lawrence's place and finished the sport 20 of 32 for 235 yards and two touchdowns.

Lawrence thanked fans for his or her support on Twitter on Sunday evening.

“I'm home and feeling better. “This means a lot to me, thank you everyone,” Lawrence said.

Thank you to everyone who cared for me/prayed for me. I'm home and feeling higher. Means so much to me, thanks all

— Trevor Lawrence (@Trevorlawrencee) December 2, 2024

The Texans (8-5) defeated the Jaguars (2-10) 23-20. After the sport, Lawrence went along with his wife Marissa from the locker room and towards the players' exit.

Al-Shaair's expulsion on Sunday comes lower than three months after the NFL fined him $11,817 for unnecessary harshness against the Chicago Bears. In the Week 2 matchup, Al-Shair hit Caleb Williams near the sideline while the Bears quarterback was running out of bounds. After the fight that resulted from this game, Al-Shair struck.

The NFL also penalized and later fined Al-Shair $11,255 for a late hit on Tennessee Titans running back Tony Pollard last week that Al-Shair knocked out of bounds.

Lawrence, 25, is in his fourth season with Jacksonville after being chosen No. 1 in 2021. In the Jaguars' first nine games, Lawrence accomplished 61.3 percent of his passes for two,004 yards and 11 touchdowns with six interceptions. In each of his first three seasons, Lawrence played a minimum of 16 games.

Celtics

Jayson Tatum and the Celtics earned a 108-104 time beyond regulation victory over the Nets on Friday to enhance to 8-2 on the season.

Here are the snack bars.

Jayson Tatum is perhaps even higher.

It can't be overstated how lucky the Celtics are to have two players nearly as good as Tatum and Jaylen Brown, considering they're each also committed to recuperating every season.

Tatum was the very best player on the very best team within the league. Through 10 games this season, there's rather a lot to be said that he's reached one other level – that he's the NBA's most versatile player and a cheat code of a constructing block. There's rightfully a variety of emphasis on Tatum's supporting solid, but there's also a major reason Tatum's plus bench lineup has been so good over time, and with all due respect: That major reason isn't Luke Kornet.

On Friday, Tatum scored 33 points on 11-for-25 shooting. He scored points down the stretch. He scored a goal in time beyond regulation. He hit 3-point shots.

In the meantime, as he had done since last 12 months, he took advantage of the defense's full attention and provided six assists. That included one among the most important passes of the sport – a late assist from Sam Hauser – and one other of the most important passes, a left cross-court pass to Al Horford in time beyond regulation that cornered the Nets for the remaining of the period. Tatum recorded 4 of his assists between the five-minute mark within the fourth quarter and the ultimate buzzer in time beyond regulation.

Add nine rebounds (including some big ones late), two steals and a block, and Tatum finished with the form of stats you recurrently see from MVP candidates.

The difference this 12 months? Tatum still manipulates the defense and finds teammates, but he also scores on his own more often. Besides Tatum, only Payton Pritchard reached the 20-point mark, and the Celtics shot just 26.4 percent from behind the arc as a team. They really needed superstar production, and Tatum was able to deliver.

“I think he has the ability to impact the game on both ends of the court, a versatile basketball player,” Joe Mazzulla said. “So I don’t care if he gets 30 a night if he doesn’t do all the other things that are most important to winning. When he does that, we're a different team, and that goes for him, that goes for Jaylen, that goes for all of our guys.

“He made the decision in the middle of the game that he was going to have an impact on both sides, and when he does that, we're a different team, so he did a great job of that.”

The previous couple of seconds were chaotic.

The Celtics almost won in regular time.

As the ultimate minute wound down, the Celtics made two big stops with the sport tied, and Joe Mazzulla jumped as much as call a timeout and ensure that they had a probability to make it 2-1.

That proved prescient — because the Celtics got here out of the timeout, they got a glance in the ultimate seconds that they've gotten repeatedly over time when another person caught a pass in the course of the court and passed it to Tatum , who stormed across the roadway. In this case, the Celtics hit an inbounds shot to Jrue Holiday, who rebounded a pass to Tatum. Tatum hit a two-handed slam to present the Celtics a two-point lead.

Defensively, the Celtics were lucky – two players chased Cam Thomas, which freed up Cam Johnson for an open 3-pointer. The Nets sharpshooter missed his goal, but got the ball and was fouled by Tatum. Johnson did each, and Tatum's last-second shot bounced off the rim, sending the sport into time beyond regulation.

Tatum made one other technical error.

Tatum could be technical and celebrated his fourth win of the season in only ten games on Friday.

To be fair to Tatum, he was right: He appeared to have an open dunk in transition before Nic Claxton swooped in and blocked it. However, Tatum felt he had been fouled, and a replay showed he can have been right – Claxton didn't appear to get the ball in any respect on the tackle. Tatum made a scene and whistled for the technique.

Before the sport, Joe Mazzulla brushed off concerns about Tatum's technical count, noting that he wasn't that far behind (Mazzulla has one) and that Tatum probably won't maintain his torrid pace on the technical counts.

Still, he's currently on pace to complete the season with 32 points, which might bring a slew of 16-and-over bans.

The Celtics fought from three.

The Celtics thrive when their 3-point shooters can create and exploit space, but on Friday they struggled to search out range, which was one among the explanations the Nets were capable of sustain. Tatum shot 5 of 13 from behind the arc and Pritchard was 3 of seven, but the remaining of the team was just 6 of 33 (18 percent).

Al Horford was 3 of 9, Derrick White was 1 of 6 and Jrue Holiday was 0 of 4. Sam Hauser perhaps struggled probably the most – just 2 of 10, although he did hit an enormous triple at the top.

Hauser contributed in other ways.

Hauser made many other contributions besides shooting, especially on defense. He recorded three steals, and when isolated Nets players like Cam Thomas and Dennis Schröder tried to focus on him, he generally held up well.

And when he finally broke through, his relief was palpable.

Sam Hauser was so relieved after finally hitting a three-pointer

Up to that time, he was 1-9 from downtown

Jayson Tatum never lost faith in him pic.twitter.com/dke7kwxfvC

— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzell) November 9, 2024

“Whether Sam is open or not, we always want him to be a threat,” Tatum said. “It's not necessarily that we shoot every time, but we have so much trust in Sam that we were mad at him when he missed and he was mad at himself.” Al yelled at him on the bench like, “Hey, never hang your head.” The next one.'

“We always believe the next one will come because he is such a proven shooter and works really hard at his craft. So no, I never think, ‘Oh shit, Sam just missed his last two shots, I’m not going to pass it to him.’ No, I would never think that.”

Mazzulla noted that the stats here will likely start tipping in Hauser's favor soon.

“1-on-9 just means he’s about to face a 6-on-10 game here,” Mazzulla said. “So it’s just part of the game. He provided great looks. He has great looks. He has to shoot her. The boys have to surrender to him and we get on with our day.”

Jrue Holiday posted.

With Jaylen Brown out again (and three attempts all night chipping the paint off the rim), the Celtics needed some offense inside someone's arc, and Holiday provided 17 points on 8-for-14 shooting. He lined up Dennis Schröder and Cam Thomas within the paint and created space for a few layups. The Celtics scored just two baskets in the primary six minutes, each of which were layups by Holiday.

“He’s just a Swiss Army knife,” Mazzulla said. “I mean, he doesn't really care what his sub-pattern is. He just doesn't care. He just plays hard. He doesn't allow things to affect his efforts.

“I thought he made some physical plays midway through the first and second quarters that got us going again and allowed us to kind of be in that space. He just has the ability to impact the game in different ways and he’s always looking for ways to do that.”

Xavier Tillman began things off (it didn't go well).

Instead of Neemias Queta, the Celtics opened with Tillman – perhaps in an try and balance Queta with Ben Simmons' minutes, which might give Queta a probability to maneuver freely as a shot blocker.

Tillman struggled a bit on each ends, and the Nets largely ignored him defensively – opting to present up every open 3-pointer he desired to clog up the remaining of the Celtics. Tillman played just six minutes before being eliminated, and he didn't return the remaining of the best way, ending 3-0 behind the arc.

A reporter asked Mazzulla if Tillman and Jordan Walsh missed three-point shots.

“At the end of the day, they just have to feel that if they are open, they have to make it happen,” he said. “They work on it every day. I watch them do it. I trust them, and of course you want to pass and move the ball, but if you allow a good first pass, as good as defenses are in the NBA, it's harder to generate that late in the clock, and so they just have to “I understand and encourage myself that I want them to shoot when they are open.”

It's time (Lord).

Robert Williams missed a 12 months of basketball, but in an 11-minute return he scored 13 points, made all 4 of his free throw attempts, grabbed three boards, dished out an assist and recorded two steals and a block.

He also made the primary 3-point shot of his profession.

We're not asking for much here, but a healthy extension for Robert Williams could be incredibly cool to see.

An update from Maine.

Baylor Scheierman made his debut with the Maine Celtics and looked all the pieces an NBA player should look against G League competition. He scored 31 points to go, seven rebounds and 7 assists.

JD Davison, meanwhile, scored 31 points and provided 12 assists. He also threw down a nasty dunk after a lob from Scheierman.

Maine could have a fun season.

Three games in 4 nights.

The Celtics have a busy week ahead: three games in 4 nights, starting Sunday in Milwaukee, followed by the Hawks and Nets on Tuesday and Wednesday (and after Friday's game, it's perhaps price noting that the hyper-aggressive Nets are an uphill battle may very well be on the second evening of a consecutive night). They can then enjoy two days off before facing the Raptors next Saturday.

Local News

During one Emergency negotiation On Tuesday, Boston City Council members heard testimony accusing U.S. Postal Service leaders of mismanagement that led to significant delays in deliveries. Adding to the frustration, the USPS declined to send a representative to testify before city councilors.

Councilors Sharon Durkan, Henry Santana and Ben Weber submitted a motion Hearing Order last month to analyze a “lack of adequate postal service” in Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood. Both businesses and residents have been affected, and complaints have been received from across town, Durkan said Tuesday.

“Let me be clear about what we are experiencing in our communities. Residents are missing important communications, including legal documents and financial reports. Neighbors at risk are experiencing delays in receiving vital medications. Small businesses are struggling with unreliable postal services,” Durkan said. “Most critically, with election season approaching, an unreliable postal service threatens to undermine our democratic process.”

USPS spokespeople didn’t reply to a request for comment Wednesday morning.

According to Durkan, internal emails were by accident forwarded to council members before the hearing by which a USPS official accused the council of pursuing a political agenda and never caring about customers. Several city councilors expressed outrage on the accusation.

“It is outrageous that someone from the postal service accused us of having a political agenda. Our goal is to ensure Boston residents receive their mail. That they get their checks, that they get their medications, that they get their ballots,” Weber said. “This isn’t political, it’s just about making sure Boston residents have a basic public service.”

At the hearing, executives from three different unions representing USPS employees within the Boston area testified. According to Scott Hoffman, a national business representative who represents USPS employees within the New England region of the American Postal Workers Union, “bizarre” hours at post offices are one in all the core problems. Early and constant closures are attributable to USPS leadership's unwillingness to supply them with sufficient staff, although employees are sometimes available for work.

“The additional time lost due to improper closures only results in fewer staff being available, which in turn impacts service. It’s a built-in system designed for a downward spiral,” Hoffman said.

The flow of mail through the USPS system could be blocked in a wide range of ways, he said. Due to staffing shortages, employees are being assigned to customer support windows on the expense of behind-the-scenes work facilitating mail distribution. USPS leaders will force trucks not to go away their offices for mail delivery until they’re at full capability. Hoffman compares this to a bus company that postpones a night bus until the following morning because not all seats are occupied.

This is consistent with a consistent theme of complaints about management: that decisions are made for business reasons with little or no consideration of the service disruptions they cause. Additionally, poor worker retention ends in the remaining employees being swamped with enormous workloads.

Several residents reported on their experiences. They described instances of important health care not being delivered within the mail, delays in necessary paychecks and problems with insurance coverage as a consequence of USPS service problems. Mitch Hilton, who worked as a letter carrier for greater than 35 years before retiring in 2006, said he has seen a big change in service since then. Hilton has recorded 44 instances of its mail not being delivered on time to this point this yr, with September being the worst month for on-time delivery.

Postal service within the Boston region is “up to date and meeting performance standards,” a spokesman for the USPS Northeast Region said in September. Nearly all first-class mail in Massachusetts arrived “within one day of the service standard” in the ultimate quarter of the fiscal yr. On average, mail is delivered within the state in 2.5 days.”

Last month, the USPS recorded an 89% on-time rate for first-class mail in a county consisting of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, in keeping with the agency's online service dashboard. Just over 96% of first-class mail was delivered with an additional day, in keeping with the dashboard, and mail took a mean of two.6 days to be delivered.

Durkan expressed skepticism concerning the accuracy of metrics published by the USPS.

“If I had believed that their weekly performance standards were accurate based on what I was hearing from constituents, I would not have requested this hearing,” she said. “We’re being gaslighted in Boston. We’re being gaslighted.”