Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Today, local postal carriers will cautiously resume delivering mail to rural mailboxes regardless of whether the door is open or closed.

With the arrest of 21-year-old Luke J. Helder Tuesday night, state postal officials rescinded their order for postal carriers not to deliver mail to rural mailboxes with closed doors.

"We are going back to business as usual," Steamboat Springs Postmaster Bill Butler said Wednesday morning. "Tomorrow things will be back to normal.

"However, we are encouraging our carriers to be cautious."

On Tuesday and Wednesday, local mail carriers did not deliver mail to rural mailboxes with closed doors in Routt County because of a rash of pipe bombs in rural parts of the Midwest, Colorado and Texas.

Helder is suspected of being responsible and was arrested in Reno, Nev. Authorities suspect the college student placed 18 pipe bombs in rural mailboxes in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado and Texas.

Six people were injured by mailbox explosions Friday, but the other 12 pipe bombs did not detonate.

Eight bombs were found in Illinois and Iowa, eight more were discovered in rural areas of Nebraska and one each were found in Colorado and Texas.

Each pipe bomb, which is described as a three-quarter-inch steel pipe attached to a 9-volt battery, came attached with anti-government notes that warned "More 'attention getters' are on the way."

Butler said a majority of the 1,000 residents in the county who have rural mailboxes cooperated with the measure intended to protect mail carriers from getting injured.

Because of the mail restriction, Butler said about 2 percent of the total volume of mail that is delivered to 3,900 mailboxes in the county was not distributed.

"If you spread it out, the mail would measure about six feet," Butler said of mail not delivered.

Butler said this mail will be delivered today. A note explaining why the mail was not delivered during the past two days will accompany the mail, he said.

Although Helder is in custody, Butler said his carriers will be cautious when delivering mail because of the threat of "copycats."

"We are going to be very careful for a while," he said. "If a resident sees anybody acting strange around a mailbox, they should call local law enforcement."

With the arrest of 21-year-old Luke J. Helder Tuesday night, state postal officials rescinded their order for postal carriers not to deliver mail to rural mailboxes with closed doors.

"We are going back to business as usual," Steamboat Springs Postmaster Bill Butler said Wednesday morning. "Tomorrow things will be back to normal.

"However, we are encouraging our carriers to be cautious."

On Tuesday and Wednesday, local mail carriers did not deliver mail to rural mailboxes with closed doors in Routt County because of a rash of pipe bombs in rural parts of the Midwest, Colorado and Texas.

Helder is suspected of being responsible and was arrested in Reno, Nev. Authorities suspect the college student placed 18 pipe bombs in rural mailboxes in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado and Texas.

Six people were injured by mailbox explosions Friday, but the other 12 pipe bombs did not detonate.

Eight bombs were found in Illinois and Iowa, eight more were discovered in rural areas of Nebraska and one each were found in Colorado and Texas.

Each pipe bomb, which is described as a three-quarter-inch steel pipe attached to a 9-volt battery, came attached with anti-government notes that warned "More 'attention getters' are on the way."

Butler said a majority of the 1,000 residents in the county who have rural mailboxes cooperated with the measure intended to protect mail carriers from getting injured.

Because of the mail restriction, Butler said about 2 percent of the total volume of mail that is delivered to 3,900 mailboxes in the county was not distributed.

"If you spread it out, the mail would measure about six feet," Butler said of mail not delivered.

Butler said this mail will be delivered today. A note explaining why the mail was not delivered during the past two days will accompany the mail, he said.

Although Helder is in custody, Butler said his carriers will be cautious when delivering mail because of the threat of "copycats."

"We are going to be very careful for a while," he said. "If a resident sees anybody acting strange around a mailbox, they should call local law enforcement."