NEW YORK (AP) — Diet Coke fans may soon feel more like they’re drinking “the real thing.”

Coca-Cola says it is giving cans and bottles of its flagship sodas a makeover, with plans to unify the appearance of regular Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero and Coke Life.

The world’s biggest beverage maker says cans and bottles will prominently feature a “red disc” reminiscent of regular Coke, in addition to the colors associated with each brand. Diet Coke cans are silver, Coke Zero cans are black and Coke Life features green.

The Atlanta company says the “One Brand” look will roll out in Mexico next month then spread to other countries.

In its flagship North America market, however, Coke says it’s still testing its options and that no changes are planned for this year.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit claiming the Kansas City Power & Light entertainment district discriminated against black patrons.  Glen Cusimano accused the district’s developer and related entities of hiring whites to pick fights with black patrons.

He alleged the black patrons were thrown out of bars after the fights. Cusimano, who is black, said he was a victim of that tactic when he was fired in September 2013 as manager of the Mosaic lounge.

Lawyers for the developer, Cordish Cos., said Cusimano was fired for hitting a patron who was handcuffed.

The Kansas City Star reports Jackson County Circuit Judge Joel Fahnestock ruled Monday that Cusimano did not prove his claims.

A related federal class-action lawsuit filed by Cusimano’s attorney, Linda Dickens, was thrown out last year.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — After months of negotiations and some late push and pull over the cost, the last public hearing is set on the U.S. Department of Justice’s settlement with the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson.

The agreement calls for sweeping changes in the city where 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot by police. The public gets one more chance to weigh in during the hearing Tuesday.

The hearing is not required by law but was requested by both the Justice Department and Ferguson leaders.

Brown, who was black and unarmed, was fatally shot by white Ferguson officer Darren Wilson in August 2014. A grand jury and the Justice Department cleared Wilson, who resigned in November 2014.

A separate Justice Department investigation found racial bias and profiling in Ferguson’s criminal justice system, prompting the settlement.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s corrections director is facing tough questions from a lawmaker who says a high-profile inmate was able to swallow an employee’s keys while under around-the-clock supervision.

Correctional services director Scott Frakes on Monday defended his staff’s actions but said workers made mistakes in their handling of Nikko Jenkins. He acknowledges no one has been fired.

Jenkins is in custody at the Nebraska State Penitentiary while awaiting sentencing for four murders in Omaha in August 2013.

Jenkins has cut his face, tongue and genitals and tried to hang himself while in prison. Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha railed against the department’s handling of Jenkins.

Frakes’ comments came during a wide-ranging legislative hearing on Nebraska’s prison system, which touched on issues such as staff turnover and the use of solitary confinement.

 

MERIDEN, Kan. (AP) — A man has died after he climbed a high tension line and was electrocuted.

Jefferson Co. Sheriff Jeff Herrig told WIBW-TV that 21-year-old Nathan Robertson of Valley Falls died Saturday in Meriden.

Herrig says the Rock Creek Fire Dept. and Jefferson County crews responded to calls Saturday night of a man on the ground.

Robertson was reported to be climbing the high tension line of the tower and was electrocuted. He then fell several stories, landing on the ground.

He was transported to St. Francis Hospital, but declared deceased almost immediately after his fall.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Gov. Pete Ricketts has rejected an effort to overhaul Nebraska’s process for drawing legislative and congressional districts.

Ricketts vetoed a bill Monday that would create an independent redistricting commission to draw the state’s political boundaries. Ricketts says he cannot support handing the authority over to an “unconstitutional, unelected, and unaccountable” board.

Nebraska’s current system requires a legislative committee to propose new maps once every decade, after the census. The process was criticized as overly partisan during the last redistricting in 2011.

The Legislature approved the measure by Republican Sen. John Murante of Gretna and Democratic Sen. Heath Mello of Omaha last week with a 29-15 vote.

Senators could override Ricketts’ veto the final day of the session Wednesday. An override requires 30 votes.

HICKMAN, Ky. (AP) — Motorists traveling between western Kentucky and Missouri can once again use a ferry service that’s been closed for an extended period.

The Dorena-Hickman Ferry was closed due to damage to the rudders and propeller drive system.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said the ferryboat had to be taken to Memphis and put in dry dock for repairs.  The ferry has been closed since February.

The ferry connects Kentucky 1354 at Hickman, Kentucky, with Missouri Route A and Route 77 near Dorena, Missouri. Missouri and Kentucky are the only border states that are not directly connected by a road. The ferry is the only direct route between the two states.

NEWTON, Kan. (AP) — Another Kansas school district is considering charging parents for all-day kindergarten.

KSNW-TV reports that the Newton district in south-central Kansas is looking into a $200-a-month charge. Half-day kindergarten would remain free because the state funds it.

Newton Superintendent Deborah Hamm says expenses are rising with no new money. She says districts can’t continue to do the same things with fewer resources.

Newton parent Ashley Horchem says the proposal is “frustrating” and that “education shouldn’t be that costly at a young age.”

But Hamm says there are no other areas to trim the budget. School board members haven’t made a decision yet.

Among the districts already charging for all-day kindergarten are several in the Kansas City area.

JACKSON, Mo. (AP) — The “hanging tree” once used for executions in southeast Missouri’s Cape Girardeau County has been taken down.

The Southeast Missourian reports that county officials ordered the tree in Jackson to be removed after determining it no long was healthy enough to continue standing.

The mulberry tree was taken down Sunday.

The tree stood next to the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse and was used in the hanging of condemned criminals. Missouri officially stopped using hanging as an execution method in 1937, but Cape Girardeau County’s last hanging was June 15, 1899, when convicted killer 19-year-old John Headrick was executed for killing a man a year earlier.

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — A Joplin man has pleaded guilty to setting a fire that destroyed a mosque and attempting to burn down a Planned Parenthood clinic.

The Kansas City Star reports that 32-year-old Jedediah Stout pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Springfield.

The building for the Islamic Society of Joplin burned in August 2012. That fire came about a month after an unsuccessful attempt to burn the building.

Stout confessed to setting fire to the mosque after he was arrested in 2013 for twice trying to burn down the Planned Parenthood clinic in Joplin. Prosecutors said he threw a backpack containing flammable liquid onto the clinic’s roof and lighted a rope attached as a fuse. The clinic doesn’t provide abortions.

He will be sentenced after a pre-sentence investigation is completed.