GRANTHAM, N.H. (AP) – Residents of the private community of Eastman are having water problems.

The community has told residents to stop all outdoor watering for the second straight summer after a recent drop in output from one of the community’s two wells. They hope to halve consumption and hold off further problems until they can open an emergency well in coming weeks.

Residents can water vulnerable plants by hand, but face fines of at least $200 dollars a day if they use hoses or sprinklers. In addition to the emergency well, the village also plans two more wells next year.

The need has been prompted by the village’s rapid growth and a change in residents from retired couples to young families.

The village contains 356 condos and about 800 single-family houses.

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HUDSON, N.H. (AP) – Police are warning residents to be careful of a fake cop.

Police said a man driving a silver car that looks like an unmarked cruiser pulled a woman over Wednesday.

The woman said the man said her brake lights weren’t working, then asked if he could search her car. He looked through the car from the outside, then let her drive off.

Police said drivers with doubts about whether someone is an officer, should drive slowly to a well-lighted or populated place before stopping, keep the window up, ask to see a police ID or ask the person to radio for a marked cruiser to respond.

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LEBANON, N.H. (AP) – A private school says it may sue the Catholic Diocese of Manchester to stay on property the church has sold to a developer.

The Montessori School and its 60 children meet in Holy Redeemer Church’s parish hall, but the diocese has sold the property.

Elise Thayer, head of the school, said it will open on Sept. 6, as scheduled, and is considering taking the diocese to court so it can stay put. Thayer says the school does not have a backup location.

The diocese and developers say the school was given plenty of time to buy the building or renew its lease to stay in the parish hall, but the school says the proposed rent is too high.

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NEWPORT, N.H. (AP) – A Springfield man sentenced to prison for up to 25 years for killing his brother is appealing his manslaughter conviction to the state Supreme Court.

Ethan Vassar, 32, was sentenced last month to 12 to 25 years, after 40 people showed up to support him and his mother pleaded for mercy.

Vassar shot his brother, Nicholas, 26, five times last June, saying he feared his brother would kill their mother. Donna Vassar told Judge Robert Lynn she helped create the situation by not calling police on Nicholas when he repeatedly threatened her over 18 months.

Vassar’s lawyer argues the judge should have allowed the jury to consider self-defense and should have allowed Nicholas Vassar’s prior conduct to be introduced as evidence.

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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – A Hudson man has been sentenced to more than two years in prison for violating a federal weapons law.

U.S. Attorney Tom Colantuono said Michael Hughes, 25, had pleaded guilty to a federal law that prohibits felons from having firearms.

Hughes was arrested in November when police found a semiautomatic assault rifle at his home.

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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – A 31-year-old Manchester man who pleaded guilty to federal charges of dealing cocaine and crack cocaine has been sentenced to 21/2 years in federal prison.

Prosecutors said Jason Rochette was dealing drugs in the summer of 2003 and sold bogus cocaine to an undercover agent.

Rochette will be on probation for five years after he is released from prison.

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PETERBOROUGH, N.H. (AP) – Town residents have been told to boil municipal water after dangerous bacteria was found in the town water supply.

Health officials said tests revealed the presence of E. coli. Residents were told to boil tap water for at least two minutes before drinking it.

The town also is making available 5,000 gallons of bottled water.

The bacteria can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches and other symptoms. People with weakened immune systems are most at risk of becoming sick from drinking contaminated water.

The source of the contamination was not known. Officials said they are chlorinating and flushing town wells and expect the problem to be resolved within two to three weeks.

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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – A 20-year-old Manchester man has pleaded guilty to stealing a bag of blank money orders and checks from a bank by distracting a teller with a request to change a large number of coins into bills.

Prosecutors said Jayson Gardner pleaded guilty to one count of bank larceny. He was accused of hiding the bag under his shirt and walking out of the unidentified branch of a Rochester bank on May 10.

He will be sentenced on Nov. 17.

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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – An assistant high school hockey coach is New Hampshire’s latest Tri-State Megabucks jackpot winner.

Rick McMenimen, who won the $1.4 million (before taxes) jackpot Saturday, came forward this week to claim his prize.

Besides coaching at Exeter High School, McMenimen, is an estate and financial planner.

High Street Grocery, which sold the winning ticket, received $24,000.

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GILFORD, N.H. (AP) – The Marine Patrol is investigating the death of a 4-year-old boy who fell into Lake Winnipesaukee.

Investigators say the boy fell into the water in Sanders Bay in Gilford about 8 p.m. Wednesday. He was taken to Lakes Region General Hospital and pronounced dead. His name has not been released and an autopsy was expected.

“He was in the water playing with some siblings as well as adults,” Police Sgt. David Ouellette said Thursday. “We don’t know if it’s a medical condition” or if he drowned, Ouellette said. “It does not appear he was under the water for any length of time.”

The child had fallen into the water near the Yacht Club Vista in Sanders Bay. “My understanding is that it’s very, very shallow in that area,” Ouellette said.

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BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) – A bartender and a tour-boat engineer helped rescue a dog named Tucker swimming alone in the middle of Lake Champlain while the boat’s passengers watched.

The rescue started Tuesday evening when Spirit of Ethan Allen III crew members and a videotaping passenger spotted the dog paddling in the distance with no owner in sight.

“There’s a dog in the lake,” passenger Erik Filkorn recalled people saying.

There was no shortage of would-be rescuers. Engineer Dave Cassell was trying to calm everyone down. He needed to get to work saving the dog, but he had to make sure the passengers didn’t make a rogue rescue attempt.

Cassell, the engineer, and boat bartender Michael Shea Jr. opened the door on the side of the vessel. With Shea holding onto him, Cassell plucked the dog from the lake.

The dog’s owner was spotted circling the lake in a speedboat with a similar dog aboard. The crew flagged her down and instructed her to meet them at the dock. In the meantime, passengers were sharing the buffet with the dog.

The owner came 20 minutes after the boat docked and reclaimed Tucker without a word.

Aside from a University of Vermont cruise when some students leaped for shore a few years back, and a moose’s swimming from New York to Vermont, the crew hasn’t seen many rescue missions. However, they were well-equipped for the situation, Cassell said. They regularly practice man-overboard drills as required by the Coast Guard.

“And now we’ll be doing dog-overboard drills,” Shea said.

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EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Cabela’s Inc., an outfitter of hunting, fishing and other outdoor gear, is planning its first superstore in New England at the former Rentschler airfield.

The 200,000-square-foot “outdoor experience” store would be the centerpiece of a $2 billion development envisioned for the former airfield owned by United Technologies Inc., said Dan Matos, Rentschler’s developer.

Joe Arterburn, a spokesman for Cabela’s, said the East Hartford store would serve enthusiasts of hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, boating, wildlife viewing and other outdoor activities. It also sells gifts and furnishings.

Town officials called the store a “tourist destination” that would cost between $35 million and $45 million to build.

The store would employ about 450 workers and would take about a year to build.

Cabela’s, based in Sidney, Neb., has 11 retail locations and is planning several others this year.

Mayor Timothy D. Larson said Wednesday that the store, with its museum, aquarium, restaurant and other features, could draw between 3 million and 4 million visitors a year and complement the hotel and convention center at Adriaen’s Landing across the Connecticut River in Hartford.

“This will rival and give credence to the whole capital region,” he said.

Cabela’s and ING Group, a financial services group that is seeking to move 2,000 workers from Hartford to Rentschler, would be the first tenants to occupy the 650-acre, mixed-use development in East Hartford.

The East Hartford Town Council is considering tax abatements for Cabela’s and ING valued at more than $7 million for the companies over the next seven years, Larson said.

The companies are also negotiating funding incentives with the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

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PORTLAND (AP) – Two New Hampshire men have been charged with sexually assaulting a woman as she walked down a Portland street Wednesday.

Police said Jonathan Santos, 19, and Michael Coleman, 21, both of Manchester, along with a 17-year-old, asked the 19-year-old woman for a cigarette as she walked along St. John Street.

The men are accused of forcing her behind a bank, where the assault allegedly took place.

After the woman called police, the three were arrested about a mile away.

Santos and Coleman were being held at the Cumberland County Jail on $100,000 bail. The 17-year-old was taken to Long Creek Correctional Center.