Santa Claus Won't Be Coming to Town

Ever sent a letter to Santa up in the North Pole when you were a kid? Ever get a response? For those of you that did, it was probably a magical experience.

Well, tradition over.

The U.S. Postal Service has put a halt to the tradition after discovering that last year one of Santa's little helpers was trying to help himself. A registered sex offender had signed up to volunteer for the Operation Santa, which enlists volunteers in North Pole, Alaska to respond to letters addressed to Santa. After he was found out, Operation Santa, started in 1954, became a big worry.

In other words: all those kids who write to Santa may not be getting a response this year, not unless mommy and daddy write them personally.

USPS spokesman Ernie Swanson released a statement on the issue. "It's become a privacy issue. There's been concern on the part of outsiders about the Postal Service just handing out this information to people, and what could happen."

The main change is that volunteers will no longer have access to the names and addresses of people who write in. Other than that, it is up to individual post offices on whether they can continue the program while keeping to that stipulation.