A 24-year-old North Platte woman was arrested last Friday after a tipster pointed police to cocaine and pills.

At around 6:32 a.m., an officer responded to a residence in the 1000 block of East Sixth Street on the report of a drug violation.

The officer met with a witness who indicated that there were pills and white powder in a vehicle at that location.  It was determined that the vehicle belonged to Taylor Powell.

Further investigation revealed that the pills were Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, and Zolpidem. Investigator John Deal says the white powder was field-tested and came back positive for cocaine.

The officer made contact with Powell, who was inside the residence, and questioned her.

Following questioning, the officer determined that there was probable cause to place Powell under arrest and charge her with felony possession of cocaine and three felony counts of possession of a legal drug without a prescription.

Powell was transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center and jailed.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Officials from some of Nebraska’s largest counties say their voting equipment is becoming outdated and will soon need to be replaced.

Election commissioners from Douglas, Sarpy, Lancaster and Hall counties raised the concern Monday in a legislative hearing, but told lawmakers they’re waiting until Nebraska officials decide whether to switch to statewide mail-in voting.

Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Kruse says one of the machines in his office stopped working on election night 2016, and others experienced problems.

Sarpy County Election Commissioner Wayne Bena says lawmakers will have to act in next year’s session if they want new technology in place by the 2018 elections.

Sen. John Murante of Gretna says state officials need to act next year despite a projected budget shortfall.

LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) — Authorities are investigating the discovery of human remains near Lexington as a likely homicide.

The remains were found Monday morning on a farmstead in Dawson County, about 2½ miles north of Lexington.

The Dawson County sheriff’s office says an initial investigation indicates a homicide occurred and that investigators were following several leads.

A North Platte man is facing a felony assault charge after an assault at a local bar in October.

According to North Platte Police, officers responded to the report of an assault at Sculley’s Shooters, 2221 East Fourth Street, at around 1:29 a.m., on October 16.

Investigator John Deal says officers met with a 32-year-old male subject who stated that he had been punched in the back of the head, taken to the ground, and placed in a choke hold.

The man stated that he wasn’t able to see who had assaulted him.

Investigators continued to follow-up on the case and talked to witnesses who were able to identify the man as 33-year-old Joshua Rosenberg.

On December 9, officers contacted Rosenberg and placed him under arrest.

He was transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center and jailed on charges of felony strangulation and 3rd-degree assault.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska will be changing the way it numbers farm and commercial license plates to reduce the chances that residents will receive erroneous notices about fines and parking tickets.

The change will eliminate about 500,000 duplicate plate numbers. Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles director Rhonda Lahm says commercial and farm license plates with a county numerical designation will have an alpha character added to the end of the plate number.

The change will start with the 2017 license plates.