BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS

Local students in National Merit running

Three Mater Dei High School students who live in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa have been selected as semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Mary Flynn, 17, and Stephen Lamb, 18, of Newport Beach and Amanda Lim, 16, of Costa Mesa were among four Mater Dei students making the cut for the 2007 competition. Less than 1% of high school seniors nationwide are named as semifinalists. To enter the National Merit program, students must score highly enough on the Preliminary SAT exam.

About 15,000 semifinalists will move on to the final round next spring, with the program set to give out $33 million in awards.

Post Office locations expand hours for holidays

A number of U.S. Post Offices are staying open longer starting today to deal with the busiest mail season of the year.

In Newport-Mesa, two offices will have longer hours. The Costa Mesa Post Office at 1590 Adams Ave. will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The Mesa Center Station office at 2230 Fairview Road also will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

The Postal Service recommends mailing out-of-state cards and letters by Dec. 18 and in-state mail by Dec. 21. Priority packages should be mailed by Dec. 20. After that time, express mail can still be used.