13ENTERPRISENEWS.COM W E D N E S D AY, F E B R U A RY 4, 2009

INSIDE

LOCAL NEWS/ 5, 12-16OBITUARIES/ 5, 6SPORTS/ 17-20WEATHER/ 12

OURTOWNS

■ ABINGTONAnti-drug coalition todiscuss ways to edu-cate children andparents and findways to get help forthose touched bydrugs. MORE ON 15

■ BROCKTONSeventeen candi-dates have appliedfor the position ofschool superinten-dent to be vacatedwhen Basan Nem-birkow leaves.MORE ON 12

■ BROCKTONCity high school stu-dents are outper-forming what statis-tics say they shouldbe doing on MCAS,school officials say.MORE ON 1

■ BROCKTONAn admission by acertified nursing as-sistant that he as-saulted a patient atSt. Joseph’s Manordoesn’t end all legalaction in the case.MORE ON 12

■ BROCKTONEnterprise golf writerBob DiCesare winssecond-place in theProfile category ofthe International Net-work of Golf MediaAwards. MORE ON 17

■ EAST BRIDGEWATEROfficials are askingunions to revisit theircontracts in light ofstate local aid cutsand expected budgetwoes. MORE ON 14

■ EASTONThe Stonehill men’shockey team is on theright track headinginto a game againstWestern New EnglandCollege. MORE ON 18

■ MIDDLEBOROState Sen. MarcPacheco said a planallowing a combina-tion of resort casinosand slot machines atrace tracks will havethe best chance ofpassing. MORE ON 4

■ MIDDLEBOROThe Planning Boardrescinded a permitfor an industrial parkand filed notice withthe Plymouth CountyRegistry of Deeds.MORE ON 15

■ MIDDLEBOROWaste Managementof Massachusettsgets an “A” for effortin its management ofthe town landfill.MORE ON 15

■ MIDDLEBOROSelectmen have ap-pointed four mem-bers to the newlyformed Middleboro atHome Committee.MORE ON 14

City pulls plow pactBrockton cancels contract with Stephen Paull afterpolice find firm using unregistered snowplow

FRIEND FOR LIFEThose touched by one man’s work help brighten his last days

COURTESY PHOTOS

JOHN CHAMBERS’ FA M I LY gathers around him upon his return from the hospital. From left are his daughters Amy, Mary,and Michaela, and his wife, Ann. John died Sunday.

FROM THEH E A RTREADERS SHARETHEIR STORIES

“From the Heart” is an oc-casional series of storieswritten by local residents.Today, Mary Chambers ofBridgewater writes abouther father, John.

By Mary ChambersSPECIAL TO THE ENTERPRISE

My father hasbeen workingon our kitchenfor about three

years. My father is a finishcarpenter with his own busi-ness and is constantly mak-ing people’s dreams cometrue through his hard workand dedication to perfection.

Last March, my fatherwas diagnosed with cancer.

My family consists of

three girls, Michaela, 19,Amy, 20, myself (Mary) 24,my mother, Ann, 49, and myfather, John — he justturned 58.

About 10 years ago, weput an addition ontoour two-bedroom,one-bath house.

We did mostof the work our-selves, from stain-ing the finish workto grouting thetile in the newbathroom. Ittook a goodamount oftime,maybe fiveyears, for

there every step of the way.Of course he had to keepworking though, and sothings may not have hap-pened as quickly as hewould have liked.

As I mentioned earlier,my father was diagnosedwith cancer in March of ’08.

The summer rolled alongquietly. He continued towork all summer long, tak-ing every other Monday offfor his clinical trial at MGHin Boston.

He tiled the bathroom inthe now, “new part” of thehouse, and grouted it. Heand my mother looked atkitchens together, at every

the addition to be ready.A few years after we got

settled into our “new home”work started on the “oldpar t.”

We gutted the inside ofthe house. Slowly but

surely, everything start-ed coming together ...walls went up, theshower was put in.Believe me, this

didn’t happenover night.

This wasmy Dad’sbaby, andhe wasdeter -mined

to beJOHN

CHAMBERS H E A RT /PAGE 14

Psychiatric examination for accused killer LukeDoctors to testhis competencyto stand trialBy Maureen BoyleENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER

BROCKTON — Accuseddouble-murderer Keith Luke isnow undergoing a psychiatricexamination at BridgewaterState Hospital.

The 22-year-oldBrockton man wassent to the state hospi-tal Monday after hislawyer, JosephKrowski Jr., asked aBrockton DistrictCourt judge to forcehis client to undergo a20-day evaluation.

Doctors will now examineLuke to see if he is competent to

stand trial.Luke is being held

without bail on twocounts of murder, ag-gravated rape, kid-napping and hatecrimes.

He is accused offorcing his way into aClinton Street apart-

ment on Jan. 21, raping andshooting a 22-year-old woman

who survived, fatally woundingher 20-year-old sister and thenshooting to death a 72-year-oldman pushing a cart filled withcans along the same street.

He is also accused of leadingpolice on a chase after the shoot-ing and firing at the pursuingcruisers before crashing intoseveral cars.

According to court papers,he told police it was part of a

plan to kill as many “n o n wh i t e s ”as possible and it was to end in amurderous spree during a syna-gogue bingo game.

Luke pleaded innocent inBrockton District Court at his ar-raignment on Jan. 22. He is set toreturn to court on Feb. 24.

Maureen Boyle can bereached at mboyle@enterprise-n e w s. c o m .

E A S T O N

NewuseeyedforlandOwners seekcondos for plotoffered to townlast yearBy Vicki-Ann DowningENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER

EASTON — Last spring,Bob and Joanne Carroll offeredto sell 2.5 acres they own onWilliams Street to the Commu-nity Preservation Committee forrecreation,because theland abutsa townplay -g round.

Thecommitteedeclined toconsiderthe pur-chase aftera consul-tant saidthe parcelwas wet and would require toomuch fill to become athleticf ields.

Now, the Carrolls areproposing a different use for theproperty. On those same 2.5acres, they want to build“Williams Street Village,” an af-fordable housing developmentof 28 two-bedroom, townhouse-style condominiums. Theirneighbors are not pleased.

“We feel a bit betrayed,” saidTony Pires, a local businessmanwho lives across from the Car-

Keith Luke

By Maureen BoyleENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER

BROCKTON — The citycanceled its pact with a privatesnowplow contractor after policediscovered the company was us-ing unregistered vehicles — somewith forged Registry stickers — toclear the streets.

The city canceled the contractwith Stephen Paull of Easton lastweek after police, for the secondtime this year, discovered one ofhis vehicles was unregistered and

uninsured, according to city offi-cials and court documents.

Police stopped a 1999 Ford F-450 owned by Paull on Jan. 27 atPleasant Street and WestgateDrive to make a federal Depart-ment of Transportation inspec-tion. They discovered the vehiclewas unregistered and the licenseplate decal was counterfeit, ac-cording to paperwork filed incour t.

Brockton police Capt.Emanuel Gomes, the city’s traffic

commissioner, said the city sus-pended Paull’s work that day.

Officers had made a similarstop of another of Paull’s vehicleson Jan. 18 and discovered that ve-hicle was also not registered.

“The traffic unit, in doing traf-fic enforcement, towed three ofhis vehicles over the course of thelast couple of months,” Gomessaid. “We had seen a pattern thatthe vehicles were not properly

MARC VASCONCELLOS/THE ENTERPRISE

MIKE JAQUES shovels snow off the sidewalk on LegionParkway in Brockton.PLOW/PAGE 14

EASTON/PAGE 14

The Carrollsbought the31 Williams

St. land,which

includes ahouse, in

2005.