Or better yet, throw the paper back at the delivery person

don't pay the bill

There were papers being dumped by the thousands into dumpsters advertisers were paying for nothing. I saw it first hand in Alexandria. Someone should have been held responsible. Carriers dumping all of their papers in the trash. The publisher gives out that same weak statement that he does not want to deliver where the paper is not wanted. TRY to stop it. Good luck! Thank you ABC 7 for bringing this forced delivery paper to light. There is Examiner trash all over our park and stream.

They should take turns collecting the papers...Joe does it today, Fred tomorrow, etc....and take them BACK to the Examiner's doorstep and just dump them there!

Thank you WJLA! These papers are always on my sidewalk friday evening when I get home from work. Can't take a vacation or a long weekend out of town without having to arrange for someone to come by and pick it up. I don't feel like advertising to my neighborhood that I'm out of town. The paper goes straight to the recycling bin or the fireplace... what a waste of resources. My repeated attempts to stop the paper have done nothing despite being assured it would be. Now how about the flyers they stick in your storm door or on your mailbox??

People, just pick up the paper and throw it out if you do not want it. Does someone else have to do everything for you? I enjoy the writing in the Examiner and find the paper much better than anything I find in the Post. I only wish it was delivered daily to my house - we only get it sporadically. You have to go to the mailbox and get your mail... pick it up then. Take a few minutes and educate yourself by reading news not so heavily colored by the extremely liberal mindset of the Washington Post and without a need to support the Reverend Moon (The Washington Times). Get a life. If this is your biggest daily concern, count your blessings.

I am so pleased that a major media station tackled this paper, especially when they have a marketing interest in the publication and advertise the next days stories each evening. I have tried for the past three years to get this paper stopped, and each time the circulation dept says I already have stopped it. Yet most every day there it is again. I am resorting to placing a sign on my property to stop the delivery, and have resolved to collect the wet, and hopefully moldy, papers and once a month sending them back to Micheal Phelps with my compliments. If I thought I could deliover them to his office and dump them on his carpet, I would do so. In the meantime, I am also asking my elected representatives to establish a "Do Not Deliver" program, as was suggested by Alexandria Councilman Paul Smedberg at a hearing on this matter at which Mr. Phelps testified. Mr. Phelps stated that he would do a much better job halting the papers from being delivered to individuals who did not want them. As far as I am concerned, Mr. Phelps gave false testimony and now his publication and others like them, should be fined/taxed accordingly. The problem that Alexandria will have is that the City';s Mental Health Dept is also in the employ of the Packet newspapers, and they also throw free papers onto the streets. not only does this raise questions of the freedom of the fourth estate, but it also begs the question: Can a City fine itself? Mr. Phelps, by refusing or being unable to stop delivery of his newspaper, is knowingly committing a public fraud on his advertsers, who pay based on a circulation number. How can he claim a valid circulation figure when there are individuals such as myself who have repeatedly asked to not have his paper delivered? His figures to advertisers are bogus, and Mr. Phelps needs to be called on this fraud!

My neighborhood is littered with unsoliceted papers like this, Id say 3 out of 4 driveways have at least one of them in front. I personally use it to start my fireplace, but i dont manage to get all of them before they get rained on. It is a huge waste of valuble paper and the plastic wrapper is never going to rot away. Its about as annoying as junk mail, and spam, and telemarketers.

In Manassas it is against the law to litter. I considered the unwanted paper left in my yard as litter . I called the ciculation manager of the paper and threatened to prosecute the paper deliverer with littering if it continued. It stopped immmediately.

In my neighborhood it is the residents who do not pick up the paper, be it the Examiner or the Gazette and just leave it until it becomes moldy and disgusting or some other resident picks it up to place in the trash. Some of our residents have to step over it to get into their house, but refuse to pick up the paper!!!!

Thank you.

To stop the paper from being delivered you need to make the publisher make it a priority of his. You can contact Michael Phelps directly via e-mail at mphelps@dcexaminer.com (that?s mphelps AT dcexaminer DOT com) or you can call him direct at his office at 202.459.4930 (you?ll be able to leave a voice mail or transfer to his assistant if he doesn?t pick up).

As suggested by Maxine, you should also contact the distributor for your neighborhood. You'll have to call The Examiner's circulation department and ask the customer service rep for that.

I hope that the WJLA editors allow this post ... it's public info, it's tied directly to the story - and it is the only actionable steps consumers can take to attempt to stop The Examiner from being delivered.

Thank you for addressing my number one pet peeve (of the week).

I brought my copy to the bus stop today to ask others what they think about this, and someone told me you had covered it last night. I have called repeatedly to get this paper stopped. Every time I call, a polite individual says "hmmm, " I see you have called several times. We'll put a request in again. Finally, today told me it was "up to the distributor," and gave me Vinny's number. I called Vinny and told him I was going to call every day until it stoppped (rather I called Vinny's voice mail, since Vinny did not pick up).

Note of caution: I went through this same exercise about 1.5 years ago - calling circulation, calling the publisher, writing emails and it stopped, only to start up again in the last month or so. My final suggestion might be to contact the advertisers - tell them that they are being sold ads based on a false circulation number - that their ads are ending up trampled in the mud. At the very least, isn't this considered "littering?"

Kudos to Ross McLaughlin for bringing this story out in the open. I have been one of the fortunate ones in that my e-mails to the Examiner resulted in them eventually stoppping delivery to my home in Fairfax, VA. But the neighborhood is littered with them and at times I see multiple copies in areas where there are no homes. What a waste of paper and plastic!

It's such a WASTE of paper and resources too. The one we get weekly we actually read and are disappointed when we don't get it. However, there are other people on my street where the paper lays there for DAYS until I go around and physically put it in front of their door so they take care of it. These people are just plain lazy.

I have struggled for nearly 15 years trying to get this to stop! I live in prince william county VA. There has to be a way of stopping these companies from littering I think thats what law is being broke. dah! when will we inforce it?