Post office in Hinkley, CA to close: What would Erin say?

March 14, 2015
Hinkley_POThe Postal Service is closing the post office in Hinkley, California, on March 20 for an emergency suspension. According to the local news report, the building housing the post office is being sold to Pacific Gas & Electric. Hinkley’s only gas station and market are also in the building, and they’ll be closing too, so this will be a big loss to the community.

While it’s possible that the Postal Service will eventually find a new location in Hinkley, that doesn’t appear likely. The news report says PG&E offered to help find another location, but the Postal Service is installing a cluster box unit instead, and it has told residents that if they need to do business at a post office, they’ll have to drive over 14 miles to Barstow.

Hinkley is a small, unincorporated community in the Mojave Desert, with a population of about 1,900 (as of 2000). The new owner of the post office building is not just any business in town, and one wonders why PG&E wanted to buy the building in the first place.

Residents of Hinkley filed a class action suit against PG&E, which resulted in a multi-million-dollar settlement in 1996.   If any of this sounds familiar, it’s probably because the legal case was the subject of Erin Brockovich, the 2000 film starring Julia Roberts.

Residents of Hinkley filed a class action suit against PG&E, which resulted in a multi-million-dollar settlement in 1996.  If any of this sounds familiar, it’s probably because the legal case was the subject of Erin Brockovich, the 2000 film starring Julia Roberts.

Read more:  Post office in Hinkley, CA to close: What would Erin say? | Save the Post Office.

 

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