I use announcements to make sure as many people see certain info as possible because they can be viewed in all forums. Would it be possible to have either a. an option to allow an announcement to be replied to like a topic or b. Pinned topics that have an option to be visible across multiple forums?

Currently I usually end up posting an announcement with a link to a topic in it where people can reply.

This may be a good idea. However, if I am just posting news and want members to comment, then I will just post it in the news forum. I rarely use the announcement feature, because I rarely have news that is that important, so when I do, I just make a reply post.

That's what I use the Staff blog for.

That would work also