St. Louis City Hall evacuated over suspicious packages

(Reuters) - The St. Louis, Missouri, city hall was re-opened on Tuesday afternoon, hours after it had been evacuated while authorities investigated three suspicious items, city officials said. The building and nearby streets were re-opened after St. Louis Police bomb and arson personnel secured two carbon dioxide tanks and one bag. All have been rendered safe, Maggie Crane, a spokeswoman for Mayor Francis Slay, posted on Twitter. No verbal or written threats were made, she said. "Whoever is responsible just wasted public servants' time and taxpayers' dollars," Crane said. Mayor Slay, in a post on Twitter, apologized for any inconvenience from the area's temporary closing. The Board of Aldermen had been scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. at city hall for the first new session since the April 7 election. Because of the bomb scare, the swearing-in ceremony instead took place in the open air, across from the city hall building. (Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Lisa Lambert, doina chiacu)