Author: Craig Ford

The holiday is here

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Here’s the list of items that are eligible for Alabama’s Severe Weather Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday, which runs through the weekend. Many Alabama cities and counties near Northeast Mississippi have agreed not to charge local taxes on these items as well.

2026-Severe-Weather-Sales-Tax-Holiday-Fact-SheetDownload

Who can you trust with the news?

Trust in journalism never really crossed my mind when I started in broadcast journalism after graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1992. At that time, most people trusted reporters. However, that trust has eroded significantly since then even though many traditional journalists still follow the standards taught in college and reinforced in newsrooms. (Among them are The Associated Press, Reuters and the Society of Professional Journalists.)

Because of that erosion, the group Trusting News started in 2016 to help journalists in general get that trust back. I subscribe to the organization’s weekly newsletter, and the latest one shared checklists that reporters could share to help people decide if something they see online is legitimate. Trusting News project manager Mollie Muchna wrote the following:

As it’s becoming harder for people to recognize fair, ethical, accurate information, our responsibility as credible journalists is increasing. Our job and public service duty as journalists is to help meet our community’s information needs. And in this moment, that need includes helping our audiences navigate news and make educated decisions about who to trust.

I have been retired from full-time journalism for about a year now. But when sharing news stories online, I still use those journalistic standards that guided me for more than three decades on the job. My hope is you notice that in the stories appearing on my social media accounts as well as on this website. I also hope you find the information that shows up when clicking on the images in this post helpful.

Is this worth spending $180?

LX Hammer Burger (Levy)

Being sold at the Super Bowl is the $180 LX Hammer Burger, which is said to serve four people.

It is the creation of Levy, a company that sells food and drinks at sports venues, special events and other venues, such as the Memphis Zoo.

The cheeseburger comes with a braised bone-in beef shank, a roasted mirepoix demi-glace and Point Reyes bleu cheese fondue on a baked brioche bun.

Only 200 will be made, but Forbes reports fans at Levi’s Stadium will have more options besides the burger.

Super Bowl Sunday detour in the Golden Triangle

The state is again closing eastbound Highway 82 for more work on the bridge for Old West Point Road.

This will start Sunday morning and run for nearly 24 hours. The closure will again only affect the eastbound lanes from the Highway 45 Macon exit to Main Street in Columbus.

Traffic heading for Columbus on Highway 82 will be sent through West Point before drivers can reenter the eastbound lanes from Highway 45 North. Those driving from Columbus to Starkville will not be affected.

The firm working on the bridge told The Commercial Dispatch more work will be required on the bridge after this weekend. However, that future work will not shut down eastbound traffic.