The Examiner News

White Plains Historical Society President Robert Hoch speaks at Sundays Presidents Day celebration at the Jacob Purdy House in White Plains.

More than 230 years ago, General George Washington and a group of men donning uniforms gathered near what is now Park Avenue and looked down on downtown White Plains, where the British forces had lined up. Though there were no enemy troops approaching Sunday and the man dressed as the country’s first president wasn’t Washington himself, the site was again filled with people in Revolutionary War garb as the city celebrated Washington’s 280th birthday at a landmark house that played a role in the nation’s founding war.

In a Presidents Day celebration hosted by the White Plains Historical Society, local history buffs visited the Jacob Purdy House, which is believed to have twice been the headquarters of Washington in 1776 and 1778, to watch a flag raising ceremony, tour the house and hear about the history from a Washington impersonator. Continue reading →

By Sam Barron

It was a special Friday at RJ Bailey School in Greenburgh.

Students and faculty gathered for Reach for the Stars: A Tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen as part of its African American History Program in honor of Black History Month.

The event featured singing, dancing, and videos showing the positive impact black people have had on society and culture. In a video, teachers named Michelle Obama, Martin Luther King Jr. and Don Cornelius as black people that inspired them.

The Tuskegee Airmen were the focus of the assembly. The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of black members of the military that flew planes in World War II. Despite being discriminated against and flying with dilapidated equipment, the men flew with distinction and were later honored with a Congressional Gold Medal. Continue reading →

Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr. surrounded by supporters outside the Westchester County Courthouse.

By Pat Casey

“It is very clear White Plains Police killed my father,” Kenneth Chamberlain Jr. told reporters at a press conference Wednesday afternoon outside the Westchester County Court House in White Plains.

“[The use of] disparaging and racial comments tells me that there were no reasonable officers on the scene during the time of this incident. This is a hate crime, and they murdered my father,” Chamberlain Jr. said, emphasizing a statement made in a press release distributed during the media conference. “The officer and his superiors should be held accountable.”

After reviewing videotape from White Plains Housing Authority cameras and the Taser used by police to subdue 68-year-old Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., who was fatally shot on November 19, 2011, during a police response to a medical emergency call at his apartment in the Winbrook Housing complex, Chamberlain Jr. said he determined there was nothing he could see to encourage the dozen officers responding to take the actions they did that resulted in his father’s fatal shooting. Continue reading →