This is put out by the N&O. I had to call them multiple times and get very nasty before they eventually relented, and stopped putting them on my property. That seems to have worked.

Why should it be necessary to beg them to stop throwing garbage on all of our properties? The City of Raleigh should site them for littering and make them clean it up. They should have to contact property owners to get permission to put things on our property.

THIS SHOULD BE STOPPED. I WANT $5 FOR EACH OF THESE THAT I HAVE HAD TO PICK UP OVER THE YEARS!!!

Why is there silence from the city on this?

Clean it up N&O!

A number of See Click Fix issues have gotten lost in the system, and we are just now recovering them. My apologies for the very slow response to this post!

The City has contacted the News and Observer. This is a problem elsewhere in the City. They have agreed to stop these distributions when requested. Please contact the N&O circulation division if you do not wish to have this paper delivered.

They are not cooperative when asked. Please require them to pick up the trash they've left all over our neighborhood.

I've contacted the Midtown Raleigh News circulation director and made note of your concerns. I have also spoken with the circulation desk at the newspaper who indicate that if you contact them as individuals they will stop delivery to your specific address right away.(http://www.newsobserver.com/about/contact/)

Please work directly through the newspaper. We are limited by free speech issues to take more general action to limit circulation of their paper, but you as individuals can make sure to stop delivery to your own addresses, and we will continue to work with the circulation editor to have an impact on the broadcast delivery of these papers.

Maybe you can't stop them from throwing unwanted papers on our property, but most certainly you can hold them responsible for the cleanup when these papers litter the neighborhood.

Please require them to send someone to pick up all of the unwanted rain soaked and decaying papers that litter our neighborhood.

We are doing everything we can. We cannot force people to clean it up, we can only cite them for littering and only if we catch them in the act. Our police officers understandably need to respond to safety issues first and will be unlikely to have to capacity to wait around for the delivery people. Also, if the customers have not requested that the distribution be stopped and the papers are thrown onto private property it is not litter. Please help us out because the best solution is for people to contact the N&O directly. We only have limited ability to affect the outcome here. Customers can make the difference. Because we are at the limit of what the City can do, I will close this issue at this point.

Based on what you've told me, it is fine for me to pick up all the trash the N&O has left around the neighborhood and it is legal for me to dump it on the lawns of the N&O employee's homes -- and YOUR home -- as long as I'm not caught doing it?

Please reply with your clarification.

You are certainly welcome to pick up the litter and toss it in the garbage. The N&O and anyone else can deliver something to your home whether you've asked for it or not. There is no ordinance against that unless you have posted no trespassing signs on your property, and wish to prosecute someone for coming onto your property. If it is on private property there is no ordinance that would allow the City of Raleigh to address this unless it constituted a public nuisance, i.e., it was harboring rodents - there are specific standards that are in the ordinance - newspapers in the front yard would not justify a nuisance citation. We are prevented by First Amendment protections from passing an ordinance preventing the N&O from delivering a paper to your home - free speech protections prevent us from regulating this activity. The best we can do...which we have already done...is contact the N&O and make them aware of the complaints and request that they cease delivery. They have told us they'd be happy to cease delivery if the neighbors would contact the circulation desk with specific requests from specific addresses. Please do that. We've done everything we have the legal ability to do. I wish we could do more, but re-opening this issue repeatedly will not change that.

It would also be helpful if when you do contact the N&O they actually STOP delivering it... I've called and emailed multiple times and it does no good. I've started just throwing them in my car.... then when I am on Martin Street I just chuck them back in the N&O garage.

I don't mind doing things the right way and going through the proper channels ... but if the N&O persists in delivering even when told not to - I will as well.

I challenge the legality of what they're doing when people have requested that they stop delivering to their property and they continue.

Additionally, they are also throwing the papers on the city streets.

Something should be done on this issue.

The regional manager of circulation for the N&O indicates that you all should contact him directly and he will try to resolve these issues:

Jerry E. Ritter
Regional Director of Distribution Services
McClatchy Newspapers - North Carolina/South Carolina
The News&Observer(Raleigh)/The Charlotte Observer/Rock Hill Herald/The Sun News(Myrtle Beach)
The State(Columbia,SC)/The Beaufort Gazette/The Island Packet(Hilton Head, SC)
919.829.4718 Office
919.829.8907 Fax
jerry.ritter@newsobserver.com