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QUINCY — Director of Administrative Services Jeff Mays spent about 20 minutes during Tuesday’s Quincy City Council meeting making a presentation and taking questions from aldermen about a proposed 1 percent municipal grocery tax that will replace a state tax that will sunset on Jan. 1, 2026. A third reading and a vote on the…
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QUINCY — The Quincy City Council at its Tuesday meeting approved a bid of $6,917,962 from Rees Construction Co. for the lead water main replacement project from 12th to 24th Streets on Broadway. When Alderman Greg Fletcher (R-1) asked Jeffrey Conte, director of public works, if the project was a prelude to the eventual repaving of Broadway,…
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QUINCY — Three men with little or no political experience hope to unseat incumbent Ken Hultz to win the Republican primary for 3rd Ward alderman and earn a seat on the Quincy City Council. The primary election is set for Feb. 25. With no Democrats filing to run in the 3rd Ward, the Feb. 25…
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CHICAGO — The attorney for Michael McClain said he and his client were “pleased and relieved” after Wednesday’s decision by a federal jury not to convict the longtime statehouse lobbyist from Quincy. Former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan was convicted Wednesday on public corruption charges after a federal jury found him guilty on…
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Ritchie Kracht still needs a couple more weeks to catch Roy Webb, who lasted about six weeks in the Hannibal School District superintendent’s post before changing his mind, but will Ritchie Kracht be around as long as Susan Johnson led the district? MRN Editor David Adam interviews the newly leader of the Hannibal schools.
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Stacey Julifs and Kaitlyn Shively from Clarity Healthcare talk about their company’s niche in the local health landscape. Mercantile Bank brings you Business Spotlight.
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HANNIBAL — After last week’s Hannibal City Council meeting, Mayor Barry Louderman asked firefighters who were considering leaving the Hannibal Fire Department (HFD) for other higher-paying positions to “give (him) a week or so” to come up with a short-term fix for the department’s funding-related issues. Less than a week later, he delivered. “I kept…
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QUINCY — Pickleball enthusiasts Nathan and Amy Smith live in O’Fallon, Mo., and have found a home at the Paddle Up Pickleball Club, based in Lake St. Louis, Mo. However, when they head north to Quincy and Monticello, Mo., to see their parents, they can’t find an indoor facility to play in. “When we would go…
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Looking back, I realize how much I enjoyed the years I was able to call Bob Scott a friend. When I moved to Quincy late in the summer of 1998, Bob, who died Monday at age 78, was one of my first contacts. At the time, Bob owned and operated the local dirt track, Quincy…
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QUINCY — Dave Hogge knows his return to the Quincy Park Board as a commissioner won’t last long. “When I came back to do this for the three or four months I’m here, I said I wanted four times the money I made since the last time I was on the board,” Hogge said with…
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PITTSFIELD, Ill. — Two Pittsfield High School students who were injured in Tuesday night’s fatal three-vehicle accident on Illinois Route 106 are recovering after being taken to regional hospitals. Superintendent Todd Fox provided updates on Lincoln McCartney and Deeghan Allen on the Pikeland Community Unit School District Facebook page Wednesday night. Fox said McCartney, a…
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QUINCY — As people waited outside Courtroom 2B in the Adams County Courthouse for the trial of Bradley Yohn to resume one afternoon in July 2023, a different group of people started to line the second-floor hallway. Most of the people were with the Adams County Sheriff’s Department or the courthouse staff. However, one man…
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QUINCY — Six out of 10 primary candidates hoping to earn a spot on the ballot for the Apr. 1 municipal election appeared alongside one another Tuesday night to discuss Quincy’s housing issues at a forum sponsored by the Safe and Livable Housing Committee held at First Christian Church. Both Republican primary mayoral candidates —…
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QUINCY — Not being selected as the chief of the Quincy Fire Department in 2021 was a wake-up call for Steve Salrin. “I think I took things for granted based on my position within the department and how long I’ve been there,” Salrin said. “I took that, kind of ran with it and regrouped a…
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QUINCY — Director of Administrative Services Jeff Mays promises he’ll have a brief presentation for the Feb. 18 meeting of the Quincy City Council that goes into the history of the state grocery tax, what kind of revenues the city has received from it and what kind of revenue impacts it may have if the…
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QUINCY — A local radio personality apologized for a gesture she made — putting an imaginary gun to her head and pulling the trigger — during the Quincy City Council’s Jan. 27 meeting. The gesture was captured during a live recording of the meeting on the City of Quincy’s Facebook page. “I stand here tonight…
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QUINCY — The Illinois Supreme Court ruled on Jan. 29 to deny a petition by Tim Bliefnick, a Quincy man convicted of murdering his estranged wife in February 2023, for leave to appeal the Nov. 8 judgment of the Appellate Court, Fourth Judicial District. Bliefnick’s appeal was one of 153 cases that were on the…
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HANNIBAL, Mo. — Jeremy Fogle is out of the Hannibal mayoral race, according to an announcement posted to social media Friday afternoon. Two candidates remain following Fogle’s departure — current 4th Ward councilmember Charles Phillips and former 1st Ward councilmember Darrell McCoy. The winner of the election will replace Barry Louderman, who opted not to…
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HANNIBAL, Mo. — The Hannibal City Council voted 4-1 to have fluoride removed from the city’s water supply. However, the resolution itself doesn’t have the authority to halt the addition of fluoride into the city’s water. Instead, it simply recommends its removal to the Hannibal Board of Public Works. “It is not an instruction,” City…
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HANNIBAL — A robust debate on funding disparities and retention issues at the Hannibal Fire Department (HFD) dominated Tuesday night’s Hannibal City Council meeting. However, the sparring match between April Azotea, a candidate for 2nd Ward councilmember, and two of the city’s most authoritative voices, city attorney James Lemon and Mayor Barry Louderman, was equally as lively.…
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SPRINGFIELD — The entire Republican caucus of the Illinois House of Representatives walked out during session Wednesday as several resolutions were brought to the floor by Democrats condemning actions taken by the federal government, specifically President Donald Trump. HR stands for “House Resolution”: House Republicans called the resolutions “political grandstanding” and the caucus walked out…
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HANNIBAL — According to the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), a fire can progress from a small flame to a serious concern within 30 seconds. Unfortunately for the city of Hannibal, the retention issue at the Hannibal Fire Department (HFD) is one that’s been burning for years. After a packed-house meeting that lasted roughly…
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HANNIBAL — The Hannibal City Council is set to vote at its meeting Tuesday night on an ordinance that would expand firefighter age requirements to help curb longstanding retention issues at the Hannibal Fire Department (HFD). Hannibal Fire Chief Ryan Neisen proposed the ordinance at the council’s last meeting in January that would lower the…
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QUINCY — The Quincy City Council learned on Monday night that the net taxable value on the property at 3601-3701 Broadway, which once housed the former Kmart building that was transformed into Target in August 2023, has more than tripled in two years. Director of Planning and Development Jason Parrott reported to aldermen on Monday…
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QUINCY — The Finance Committee voted Monday night to send to the Quincy City Council a proposal — with no recommendation — to implement a locally-imposed 1 percent grocery sales tax by ordinance. The state of Illinois passed Public Act 103-0781, which repeals the statewide tax on groceries beginning Jan. 1, 2026. If municipalities want…
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