Briefs

• Search leads to brief school lockdown

SPIRIT LAKE - Timberlake High School was briefly locked down on Monday morning during a search for a reported suspicious male, but the person was not found.

Kootenai County Sheriff's Office Lt. Stu Miller said a woman reported a male carrying a rifle north of the high school and walking away from that area, but no one was found.

Miller said the exterior doors of the school were locked for half an hour during the search as a precaution, but it was not a full lockdown. Classes continued as usual.

• Wood reported stolen from logging company

COEUR d'ALENE - More than $2,000 worth of cut tamarack wood was stolen from a logging company in Hayden.

According to a police report filed Dec. 6, Dennis Funke told police that he had placed 20 cords of wood behind Funke Brothers Logging. On Nov. 28, Funke discovered approximately 12 cords of the wood were missing.

Funke told police that the only individuals allowed to remove wood are family members and that none of them had taken the wood.

He also filled out a request to have extra Kootenai County Sheriff's Office patrols at his business.

• McGrane to make GOP SOS announcement

BOISE (AP) - The race for Idaho secretary of state may get more crowded on the Republican side.

Thirty-two-year-old Phil McGrane, chief deputy county clerk in Ada County, says he'll make an official announcement on Tuesday at the Ada County Courthouse and is offering free barbecue to the public.

Already, state Rep. Lawerence Denney of Midvale says he's running.

Meanwhile, former state Sen. Mitch Toryanski of Boise filed paperwork and appointed a treasurer. He hasn't made a definitive announcement.

This crowd gearing up for next May's GOP primary began assembling as current Secretary of State Ben Ysursa announced he's retiring after three terms.

Ysursa has yet to announce if he'll endorse a candidate to replace him.

McGrane is among top election officials in Idaho's most-populous county.

He has been mulling a run for weeks.