10 displaced, none injured in house fire

Ten people have been displaced after a fire damaged a 2 1/2-story house on Brooks Street in East Boston yesterday morning, authorities said. No injuries were reported in the fire, which caused $300,000 in damage, said Steve MacDonald, a Boston Fire Department spokesman. He said the fire was burning on the first and second floors of the two-family home when firefighters arrived at the scene shortly after 9 a.m. Fire officials believe the blaze was caused by an unattended candle.

A Whitman man who collapsed after a fight with a Boston firefighter last week died Friday night, said a Brigham and Women's Hospital spokeswoman. Paul J. Crowley, 62, a contractor, allegedly fought with Paul Nemes on Tuesday night at the Polish American Club in Hyde Park. After the fight was broken up, Crowley collapsed in the parking lot from a heart attack. Nemes, 58, of Norwood, was arrested and pleaded not guilty to assault and battery charges Wednesday in West Roxbury District Court. It was not clear last night whether he might face other charges.

A 24-year-old Cape man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter by motor vehicle after admitting he was drunk when he caused a six-car crash that killed two men. Michael Catarius choked back tears at Barnstable Superior Court on Friday as he entered the plea in the middle of his trial. He was sentenced to seven to 10 years in prison. Catarius rammed through a locked gate after being stopped by guards at the Massachusetts Military Reservation in July 2007. Prosecutors said he ran a red light, hit a car, and became airborne, shearing off a pickup truck roof. The crash killed a passenger, 26-year-old Michael Warren, and the driver of the pickup, 48-year-old Edward Kipp. (AP)

A Quincy church, closed in 2004 as part of Boston Archdiocese's consolidation, is awaiting a decision on whether it can regain its status as a parish. Supporters of Star of the Sea Church have appealed to the Vatican's highest court and expect a ruling this fall. The church was among several dozen closed in 2004. It reopened the next year as a chapel of Sacred Heart Parish in North Quincy. (AP)

A judge has upheld the firing of a Peabody firefighter who slept through an emergency call. John "Jack" Brophy was fired in 2005 after missing an emergency call from a parent whose 6-month-old child was having breathing problems. Brophy appealed and won his job back in March, but Mayor Michael Bonfanti fired him again in May after Brophy refused to take a drug test and physical, conditions for his reinstatement. Superior Court Judge Richard Welch dismissed Brophy's lawsuit against the City of Peabody Wednesday and lifted an injunction preventing the city from disciplining Brophy. (AP)

The city and federal officials have agreed to cut down only trees infested by a tree-destroying Asian beetle. That means potential host trees will be spared, greatly reducing the tree toll. At least 700 trees in Worcester infested by the Asian longhorned beetle will be cut down, but the numbers would be far higher with a clear-cutting approach targeting vulnerable trees as well. Worcester city manager Michael V. O'Brien called the agreement with the US Department of Agriculture a good balance between eradication and preservation. Infested trees will be removed starting in November. (AP)

Investigators say a New Hampshire state trooper nodded off at the wheel before running into two bicyclists along the road in Jefferson, N.H., last week. Sergeant Todd Cohen was escorting a wide load on Route 115 on Thursday, when he drifted off the road and hit a father and son from Orono, Maine, from behind. David Clement, 57, and his son, Timothy, 25, are in Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. (AP)