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Rumors were flying on social media today, alleging that the U.S. Postal Service plans to remove collection boxes in Arcata and Eureka, 

The rumors are false, though it’s possible that they were true at some point today. (We’ll explain that below.) Regardless, the claim certainly seemed plausible given the Trump administration’s overt, not-even-hiding it efforts to hobble the agency financially. As the Associated Press reported earlier today:

President Donald Trump frankly acknowledged that he’s starving the U.S. Postal Service of money to make it harder to process an expected surge of mail-in ballots, which he worries could cost him reelection.

Trump has been claiming, without evidence, that expanded mail-in voting will lead to widespread fraud. (Those claims have been debunked.) Meanwhile, both he and the First Lady requested mail-in ballots for themselves, according to the Palm Beach County Elections Office.

There have been news reports from other states saying that the USPS plans to remove dozens of drop boxes. The Outpost called the main branch of the Eureka Post Office to find out what was true. A very friendly woman there referred us to a corporate communications office in San Jose.

Spokesperson Augustine “Augie” Ruiz responded via email with a boilerplate message that says, essentially, low-use boxes get removed as a matter of course. Any collection box that regularly receives fewer than 25 pieces of mail per day is liable to be yanked, according to the statement.

We got Ruiz on the phone and asked if he could tell us specifically whether any boxes in Arcata or Eureka will be removed. He said he’d have to investigate the matter through the district office in San Francisco. “There’s no guarantee I could get back to you right away,” he said.

An hour or so later, though, he sent a follow-up email:

Update: We are suspending the removal of collection boxes at this time. All postings on collection boxes will be removed, as we will no longer be pulling any boxes.

This agency’s decision to suspend removal of collection boxes appears to have been made just today. A story about dozens of boxes slated for removal in Montana was updated this afternoon to say that the USPS reversed course following pressure from unions, journalists and federal lawmakers. 

We still don’t know if any boxes in Eureka or Arcata were slated to get the ax, but we do know that they’re in the clear … for now.