Supreme Court to Decide Logging Road Regulations

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/01/supreme-court-logging/1739541/

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether to switch gears on more than 30 years of regulating the muddy water running off logging roads into rivers.
At issue: Should the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency keep considering it the same as water running off a farm field, or start looking at it like a pipe coming out of a factory?
The case being heard Monday in Washington, D.C., was originated by a small environmental group in Portland, the Northwest Environmental Defense Center.

West Coast Port Strike Ends

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/los-angeles-and-long-beach-ports-to-reopen-after-strike.html?hp&pagewanted=print&_r=0

After an eight-day strike that crippled the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, clerical workers from a local office of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union on Tuesday night agreed to a new contract with the terminal operators at the ports. Union members will return to work Wednesday morning.
As the strike dragged into its second week, both sides had come under increasing pressure from local officials to end the dispute, which had threatened to derail the Southern California economy during the holiday season. Officials from the Port of Long Beach estimated that $650 million in trade has been idled each day of the strike. A federal mediator arrived on Tuesday to help broker a deal.

Sappi Cloquet Union Votes This Week

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/251580/group/homepage/

United Steelworkers Local 11-63 will have a vote this week on a proposed contract with Cloquet’s Sappi Fine Paper, a week after it authorized a strike if the mill and union could not come to an agreement.

Arjowiggins Stops Production at Dalum Mill

Arjowiggins has permanently stopped pulp and paper production at its Dalum Papir mills in Denmark.

Dalum Papir, located in Odense on the island of Funen, can produce some 103,000 tonnes/yr of uncoated and light coated paper from recovered paper on PM 7. The 75,000 tonne/yr Maglemølle deinked pulp mill in Næstved on the island of Zealand supplies the paper factory with raw material.

Boise Names COO

http://www.paperage.com/2012news/12_04_2012boise_lassa_warren.html

Boise Inc. Promotes Judy Lassa to Chief Operating Officer

Boise Inc. announced that Judy Lassa will become executive vice president and chief operating officer of the company on January 1, 2013. 

Chinese-Croatian JV Building Paper Mill

Chinese-Croatian joint venture to build pulp and paper mill in Croatia
According to EUWID Pulp & Paper, the Chinese-Croatian joint venture Dravacel will build a pulp and paper mill in Croatia mill that will produce  500,000 tpy of coated graphic and packaging paper.
The joint venture is established by Croatian paper and packaging manufacturer PAN Papirna Industrija and China International Investment Stock. The mill will be located in in Slatina, in north-east Croatia.

Direct Mail Remains Consumers' Preference

Direct Mail Remains Consumers' Preferred Choice for Marketing Messages: Direct mail continues to deliver as consumers' preferred means of receiving marketing messages, with six out of 10 Americans reporting they "enjoy getting postal mail from brands about new products."

USPS Profit in October

http://postandparcel.info/52240/news/companies/usps-makes-profit-in-october-predicts-50-cut-in-losses-this-year/

The US Postal Service made a $61m profit in October, and even achieved 5.6% growth in its mail and services revenues compared to the same month last year.
And for the full year, the world’s largest postal service is now projecting that it will cut its losses in half, to $7.6bn for the fiscal year 2013.
The struggling Postal Service has been teetering on the edge of liquidity over the past year, defaulting on $11bn worth of payments to the federal government in August and September. Planning on a $14bn loss for fiscal year 2012, USPS actually recorded a $15.9bn loss for the 12 months up to the end of September, including the payments it refused to make.

Parcel Rate Increases for Retailers

http://www.retailonlineintegration.com/blog/parcel-rate-increases-2013-that-retailers-need-know

UPS announced 6.5 percent air increases partially offset by a 2 percent fuel surcharge reduction, and 5.9 percent average ground increase offset by a 1 percent fuel surcharge reduction. Rate increases will take effect Dec. 31, 2012.
Similarly, FedEx announced average rate increases of 5.9 percent for express and international services, offset by a 2 percent reduction in fuel surcharges. FedEx hasn't yet announced 2013 increases for FedEx Ground, FedEx Home Delivery or FedEx SmartPost, although it's expected to match the UPS ground increases highlighted above. FedEx's rate increases take effect Jan. 6, 2013.

How 2013 Postal Increase Will Affect You

http://www.thedirectmailman.com/direct_mail_answers_for_p/2012/09/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-every-door-direct-mail-website.html

An overall 2.57% United States Postal Service rate postage rate increase is scheduled to take effect on January 27th, 2013.
The interesting thing about postage rate increases is that they are typically not distributed equally across all classes of mail. As a result trying to determine exactly how the increase will impact you can be quite confusing.
The purpose of this short article is to break down how the rate increase impacts the different classes of postage. As a bulk mail professional, I'm most interested in the impact on letter-sized pieces and Every Door Direct Mail.

The Great Green Debate of the Printing Industry

The Great Green Debate of the Printing Industry:
Being at Graph Expo this year, I was interested to see how big of a topic environmental sustainability was. So many industry-leading printing equipment manufacturers were eager to demonstrate their environmentally responsible solutions. The industry has come under pressure in recent years as the growing trend to go “paperless” takes off. But what I was surprised to learn, and I’m hoping many others will be too, is that a number of myths exist regarding the sustainability of paper and the printing industry. Thanks to information I picked up in one booth from Two Sides (www.twosides.us), I engaged in my own version of myth-busters and would like to share the same with you.

Huey Prepares for Departure from Time

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/business/media/john-huey-editor-of-time-inc-prepares-to-leave.html?src=rechp&pagewanted=print

In the decade I’ve covered John Huey, I’d never once been to his magisterial office on the 34th floor of the Time & Life building. It is large and imposing in a way its occupant is not, an unlikely landing spot for an old newspaper hack. On the wall is a photograph of William Faulkner, “the patron saint of all hard-drinking Southern writers,” as Mr. Huey, a native of Atlanta, describes him.

Urban Outfitters Catalog Uses "Descriptive" Language

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/12/04/hip-retailer-urban-outfitters-drops-f-bombs-in-christmas-catalog/

The youth-centric retailer Urban Outfitters is hawking its Christmas merchandise along with some nasty language this year.
CBS 2′s Brad Edwards reports the company is pushing much more than knits and tees on the pages of its Christmas catalog...

Nintendo Power Magazine Shuttered

http://www.manolith.com/2012/12/03/nintendo-power-unplugged-iconic-game-magazine-releases-last-issue/

Well, gamers, it’s the end of an era. Nintendo Power has just released its final issue. As of December 2012, the iconic video game magazine is no more.

Possible Buyer for Whole Living

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/hachette_alums_could_keep_whole_ARgFj1NtE4Sra9zBSiAssL

Martha Stewart may have finally found a buyer for Whole Living — one that will keep the magazine alive even as big publishers Hearst and Meredith stayed out of the bidding.
One source said the winning bid could come from a group of Hachette alums — displaced in the Hearst takeover.

Is There Too Much Data?

Is There Too Much Data?: “Yes, we’re stalking you.”
That’s how one publisher puts it, referring to the amount of data available via mobile and social platforms, along with an ever-expanding online world.
Add those sources to an already-voluminous print database and publishers now have more information on their readers than they can even make use of.