Saving 1%

Beginning today, one-fourth of the state’s sales tax on qualifying groceries is no more, reports AL.com’s Leada Gore.

No matter what you pay locally in sales tax — 8 percent, 10 percent, 11 percent — the state of Alabama’s portion of that has long been 4 percent. As of today, however, it’s 3 percent when it comes to groceries.

Don’t spend all your savings in one place.

The state’s Education Trust Fund is where sales-tax revenue goes. If that fund grows by 3.5 percent over the fiscal year, the state’s sales tax on food will be cut again, down to 2 percent.

Foods that qualify for the reduced sales tax are the same foods that qualify for the food stamps. That’s fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy, bread, cereal, snack foods, non-alcoholic drinks and the seeds and plants that produce food.

Prepared foods, like what you’d get from the deli, do not qualify. Neither does a case of beer and a carton of cigarettes.

Interstate work

Gov. Kay Ivey announced pretty major interstate projects on Thursday, reports AL.com’s Mike Cason.

A half billion dollars’ worth.

All three are in the Birmingham area, but the big one will also affect a lot of folks just driving through. That would be the widening of Interstate 65 from Alabaster to Calera. The project will stretch from Exit 238 to Exit 231, include numerous bridges and hopefully loosen up interstate traffic south of Birmingham.

Also, there’ll be a new interchange connecting I-459 to Highway 150 and South Shades Crest Road in Hoover. And I-59 will be widened from I-459 to Chalkville Mountain Road in Trussville.

Out of district

David Cole, a Madison County Republican, has resigned as an Alabama State representative, and court documents show he plans to plead guilty to knowingly voting in the wrong place, reports AL.com’s Mike Cason.

Last year his primary opponent complained to the Alabama Republican Party that he had not established residence in the district he was running to represent.

The party didn’t take action on that, but it removed his opponent for having past ties to the Libertarian Party.

Voting in an unauthorized place is a felony charge.

Rogers’ assistant

Varrie Johnson Kindall, a longtime assistant to state Rep. John Rogers, has been indicted on 21 federal charges, reports AL.com’s Joseph D. Bryant.

She’s accused of conspiring to skim nearly $200,000 of public funding from a Jefferson County community service fund.

Former State Rep. Fred Plump, a Birmingham Democrat, is the founder of a baseball league supported by that fund. In June he pled guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud for his role in the scheme. He said he kicked back nearly $200,000 to Kindall.

Plump’s plea deal says Rogers, also a Birmingham Democrat, was also to receive a cut of the money. But Rogers has not been charged and has said he didn’t know anything about the scheme.

Paper football tickets

If you’re like me, somewhere there’s a desk drawer with a big stack of tickets and ticket stubs to ballgames, concerts, Peanut Festivals, and maybe a movie or two. That’s because if you’re like me you don’t really clean out desk drawers, and ticket stubs were souvenirs when you were too cheap to pop for a t-shirt.

These days game tickets are usually virtual. But the University of Alabama wants to bring back that souvenir ticket for football games, reports AL.com’s Ben Flanagan. This time it’s not for people who are too cheap to buy a t-shirt.

This time, they’re selling souvenir paper tickets for an extra 15 bucks. The tickets will feature a photo of a player and, of course, the game number, opponent, section and seat number.

Whether you’re restarting your ticket collection or not, enjoy the ballgames this weekend.

Poll results

From yesterday’s newsletter: What’s your position on Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blocking of military promotions to try to force changes in the Defense Department’s abortion policies?

• 79%: Stop playing politics with national defense
• 21%: Stand your ground, Coach

Because we had only the two options above, the majority here likely included those who disagree with Tuberville on the abortion issue, those who believe it’s harmful to military interests, and those who believe it’s not an effective political strategy.

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