Properly functioning safety equipment is essential regardless of the job. No driver want to operate a delivery truck that had bad brakes. Neither would a policeman want to do his job if not confident his body armor was adequate.

A total of eight people - seven men and one woman - were taken into custody during the execution of four search warrants on Friday night in Hannibal by the police department, working in cooperation with a handful of other law enforcement agencies.

What could have been the largest illegal drug operation in the history of the Hannibal Police Department went off without a hitch Friday night. Using officers from multiple law enforcement agencies, four search warrants were executed almost simultaneously.

Audio from the call between Farm King manager and 911 dispatch was released earlier this morning. Total call time is 16 minutes and 15 seconds.

Lyle Hoskins wouldn’t have been fighting mad had the city council’s vote gone against implementing a smoking ban beginning July 1 for events at the Admiral Coontz Recreation Center. However, the head coach and trainer of the Hannibal Armory Boxing Club admitted Wednesday he is pleased with the council’s decision.

Was the Hannibal City Council’s decision to make the Admiral Coontz Recreation Center a smoke-free building for all events legal? One opponent of the council’s decision contends it wasn’t.

Macomb, Ill. - A standoff is currently underway at the Farm King store on East Jackson Street in Macomb.

According to Macomb Police Chief Curt Barker, a 911 call was placed at approximately 12: 45 p.m. from inside the store, with reports of a man with a semi-automatic rifle.

Law enforcement responded to the scene. After hearing shots fired, officers broke into two teams and approached the store.

Bid limits in the city of Hannibal are going up. The Hannibal City Council accepted the recommendation of Finance Director Doug Warren during its Tuesday night meeting and gave first reading to a bill that will increase the ceilings that must be reached before bids must be sought.

The Admiral Coontz Recreation Center will become a smoke-free zone later this year.

A handful of power outages occurred in 2009 as a result of equipment failures at Hannibal’s Indian Mounds substation. On Monday, a power outage happened when a protective device at the substation worked just as it is designed to.