Yesterday I sent a 7 pound package to Vancouver, Canada. It is traveling up the I-5 north on a truck from LA. Due to arrive Friday. Cost...$109. Some airlines have specials that would let me fly from here to there for that price
I used to work for a local newspaper. I started there in 2006 with about 50 staff members. I stayed for five years enduring constant layoffs, downsizing, "turnaround plans," etc., before leaving in 2011. That paper still exists technically but I'm not sure they even have a single staff member. They're just part of a larger company that uses a few freelancers and staffers from other publications to throw something together. You can be sure the local coverage is almost nonexistent. It's a huge problem. I think every single person I knew in journalism is working outside the industry now or retired.
Same thing happened to the paper in my parents' hometown. It's basically a USA Today branch now. Our "local" paper is based in the state's capitol, and still has real reporters and editors - just not as many as it used to.