New Civil Trial in White Plains Police Killing; Kisco Firehouse Update; Our Reverse Bias; Worsening Hudson Valley Infrastructure; The Last ‘Liberal Republican’
Good morning! Today is Tuesday, September 20. You’re reading today’s edition of Examiner+, our bonus content newsletter.
Community support is key to funding our local news mission. If you haven’t joined already, become a member now with our free 30-day trial offer to gain full access to all of our content and receive thank-you perks throughout the year like free monthly show tickets.
Hey all,
Every year the local news pace speeds up after Labor Day, but the mental prep always fails to fully brace you for the cascade. Even with the technical end of summer still a couple of days away, we’re neck-deep in the fall overflow of activity.
Most significantly, there was a major development Monday in the Kenneth Chamberlain police killing case, when a judge green-lit a new civil trial.
As you probably know, the case centers on Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. — a 68-year-old Black, retired Marine, and 20-year Westchester County Department of Corrections veteran — who lived in White Plains and was killed by White Plains police in November 2011.
We got word late last week that a ruling was coming this week on the case — a suit brought by Chamberlain’s son, Kenneth Chamberlain Jr., against the City of White Plains.
The Examiner’s Abby Luby was at the courthouse Monday morning to report on the ruling.
“We’re very pleased with the judge’s decision today,” Randolph McLaughlin, one of Chamberlain Jr.’s attorneys, states in Abby’s piece. “She’s essentially told the city that we’re going to trial unless they decide to go to mediation to resolve this. Eleven years of fighting this case is 11 years too many for this family to go through this pain. Hopefully, this would shame the policies that led to the death of Mr. Chamberlain.”
We’ve been covering the broader story for more than a decade now, but the legal efforts took on a new complexion in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder in 2020. The issue of qualified police immunity/state accountability is under the white-hot local spotlight.
Speaking of stories we’ve been covering for a while, there’s more news with Mount Kisco firehouses.
Examiner Editor-in-Chief Martin Wilbur reports how the village is faced with reducing the scope of work for renovating two firehouses after the cost exceeded budgeting by about a combined $700,000.
Mayor Gina Picinich says in Martin’s report that having to scale back work for the pair of firehouses for a second time has been a major disappointment for the village and its volunteers.
“I’ve been involved with this project since I’ve been in office, and it’s been extremely frustrating to me to be able to try and find the right solution within a budget, and all of those firefighters have been counting on this years before I got into it and some even longer than that,” Picinich states in our report.
And sometimes, a story is so personal that bias works in reverse and can delay important local news coverage. Martin and many other families have been living through a nightmare for more than a year. Our connection to the story made us hesitant to report on the situation.
Getting displaced from their Montrose condo by a five-alarm fire last August was harrowing enough. Since then, they’ve been navigating a sea of red tape, bureaucratic incompetence, and worse.
The local condo board relinquished leverage last fall when it paid the developer in full — almost $2.3 million — to rebuild before any work was done. Construction didn’t even start until this spring.
You might have read about it already in our sneak peek newsletter send yesterday, but here’s a re-up in case you missed it. News editor Rick Pezzullo reports on the Coachlight Square affair.
And don’t forget it’s “Infrastructure Week” at The Examiner News! (Who gets that quip?)
Abby wrote a piece about millions of dollars in state and federal funds earmarked for Hudson Valley infrastructure projects that remain unspent.
It’s an old and sad story by now, the story of America’s crumbling infrastructure. But it’s particularly infuriating to think about deteriorating local roads, bridges, and water and sewer systems while knowing available money to address the issue is going to waste.
“Seventy-three percent of the roads that you travel on are local roads and aren’t eligible for federal funding,” one advocate on the issue says in Abby’s article. “This is a large burden for the majority of the infrastructure that we all take advantage of every day that falls on our municipalities.” Get up to speed here.
And lastly, just for fun, because I liked the piece so much, I’m just flagging Martin’s interview from last week with John Roy Price, author of “The Last Liberal Republican.” The former Nixon adviser’s new book aims to open eyes about how groundbreaking the tarnished Nixon presidency aimed to be in domestic and foreign affairs. Check it out.
That’s all for today. Wish us luck in keeping up.
Best, -Adam
We hope you’ve enjoyed these highlights from this week’s print issues. To read all four print issues in their entirety, click on the links below:
Examiner Media – Keeping you informed with professionally-reported local news, features, and sports coverage.
We'd love for you to support our work by joining as a free, partial access subscriber, or by registering as a full access member. Members get full access to all of our content, and receive a variety of bonus perks like free show tickets. Learn more here.
