A bill that was pre-filed in the Alabama legislature on “revenge porn” also serves as yet another excuse to warn each other (and especially our kids) that anything they put on the Internet or digital mediums might haunt them later.

That’s part of today’s report below. Thanks for reading,

Ike

Police tragedy

An Irondale police officer was killed Monday morning while preparing to direct traffic at a Church of the Highlands location, reports AL.com’s Carol Robinson.

Lt. Mark Meadows had spent more than three decades on the Irondale force. Before that he served in the U.S. Army and worked with the Mountain Brook Police Department.

He had helped coordinate traffic at the church for more than 10 years. He was struck by a vehicle early Monday morning while he was setting out cones at the intersection of Grants Mill Road and Overton Road for congregants attending the church’s 21 Days of Prayer.

Lt. Meadows was 60 years old.

Broadening ‘sexual extortion’

Pre-filed bills keep landing ahead of this year’s Alabama state legislative session.

Among measures already awaiting committee action is a Senate bill that would include the use of “revenge porn” as a sexual-extortion crime, reports AL.com’s Heather Gann.

Sexual extortion currently applies to cases where someone knowingly causes or attempts to cause another person to engage in a sexual act or product sexual content under the threat of physical injury or damage to property or reputation. A conviction can mean up to 20 years in prison and a fine up to $30,000.

“Revenge porn” is yet another ugly byproduct of the digital revolution. It often refers to situations in which intimate photos or videos taken during a relationship outlasts that relationship and then are shared to nefarious means by one of the parties involved.

It again brings to mind the warning: Don’t ever put anything on the Internet or in the digital world unless you’re prepared for your grandma, next-door neighbor, boss, pastor, teachers and future spouse to view it the rest of your life, because there’s a chance they might.

But that’s a warning for potential victims. The warning for potential offenders lies in that 20 years in prison. The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Gerald Allen, a Tuscaloosa Republican, broadens the sexual extortion law to include anyone who “knowingly threatens to release or transmit any photograph, digital image, video, film, or other recording of any individual, whether recognizable or not, engaged in any act of sexually explicit conduct in order to compel or attempt to compel the victim to do any act or refrain from doing any act against his or her will.”

A pea-sized difference

It’s always risky to make a big change when you’re at or near the top.

The Red Sox once had a dynasty going but after one bad season traded off their best player, Babe Ruth.

Coca-Cola once tried to stem market-share losses by … replacing Coca-Cola.

And now, recently, Chick-fil-A tweaked its recipe for waffle fries, reports AL.com’s Shauna Stuart.

According to Chick-fil-A, it has added pea starch to the coating that it puts on waffle fries so they’ll stay “crispier, longer” while tasting the same.

You’ll be stunned to learn, I’m sure, that some people aren’t pleased with the changes, begging the chicken-sandwich chain to return to the beloved classic waffle-fry recipe.

If you’re a hype-skeptic like me, however, you’re asking a familiar question: Would they have ever noticed a difference if they weren’t told about it? Chick-fil-A sent a statement to TODAY.com saying it’s been testing the new recipe for a year.

Quoting

“Birmingham’s current trajectory is untenable. But with bold leadership, innovative strategies and collective commitment, the city can transform the future and realize the vision of becoming the safest city in America.”

The Birmingham Crime Commission, in a report revealing strategy to reduce crime.

More Alabama News

Born on This Date

In 1891, writer Zora Neale Hurston of Notasulga. She moved to Florida at a young age and later wrote “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”

In 1916, bluesman Bobo Jenkins of Forkland. He reportedly ran away to Tennessee with the first of his 10 wives.

The podcast