Officials to address report of racial incident

COEUR d'ALENE — A racial incident that reportedly happened Thursday evening in Coeur d'Alene will be addressed during a press conference at 10 this morning at The Coeur d'Alene Resort.

Representatives with the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, Mayor Jim Hammond and Police Chief Lee White will be among the speakers.

According to sources, players with the University of Utah's women's basketball team, in the area to compete in the NCAA tournament in Spokane, were walking on Sherman Avenue when someone shouted a racial remark. The team was staying in Coeur d'Alene.

Utah won its first-round game Saturday at the McCarthey Athletic Center on the Gonzaga campus, then lost to Gonzaga in a second-round game Monday night at GU.

KCTFHR Secretary Tony Stewart, in a letter Monday notifying the media of the press conference, described it as a "major racial incident."

Stewart and police declined to comment Monday.