Rural residents in Freeborn County probably have no reason to be afraid of pipe bombs in their mailboxes, but the post office still recommends taking some basic precautions.

Postal patrons with Iowa addresses, on the other hand, do need to pay attention to the recommendations being announced by postal officials.

The Postal Service has asked customers in Iowa with roadside delivery, as well as those in Nebraska and northwest Illinois, to secure their mailbox doors open or remove the doors. According to postal officials in Des Moines, when a carrier comes to an address with a roadside mail box that is closed, the carrier will attempt to deliver the mail to the door. If no one is home, the mail be taken back to the post office.

According to officials at area post offices in Minnesota, there are no official instructions on what patrons in this part of Minnesota should do in response to the attacks. It may help if customers leave their mailboxes open, however, at least for the short term.

As always, residents should avoid handling any suspicious looking items in or near mail boxes and report their location or any other suspicious activity

involving mail boxes to law enforcement or the postal inspector’s office. The telephone number for the Terrorism Task Force in charge of the investigation is (866) 847-2324 (TIP2FBI). The number for the local task force office is

(515) 253-9062.

More information about the investigation is available at the FBI’s Web site: www.fbi.gov &045; follow the link to the Mailbomb page.