A "private" memorial service honoring Sen. Edward Kennedy is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston. It's family and invited guests only, but thanks to a shared media feed you can watch the event here.

And we will be blogging the event live in this space, with occasional contributions from staffer Kathy Kiely, who is at the service.

Among the numerous luminaries scheduled to speak are Vice President Biden , Sens. John McCain, John Kerry and Orrin Hatch, and President John Kennedy's daughter, Caroline.

Update at 6:33 p.m.: Close friend and confidant Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., has arrived.

Update at 6:21 p.m.: Sen. McCain, R-Ariz., and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino are among early arrivals.

Albert Gonzalez will spend 15 to 25 years in prison for masterminding one of the two largest identity thefts in U.S. history.

According to a plea agreement announced today, he will plead guilty by Sept. 11 to 19 counts in Massachusetts related to the theft of 41 million credit-card numbers from retailers TJX Cos, BJ's Wholesale Club, OfficeMax, Boston Market, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority, Forever 21 and DSW.

The plea deal resolves related charges in federal court in New York.

But the 28-year-old former government informant from Miami, who is in jail already, still faces federal charges in New Jersey for allegedly being the mastermind of a separate case involving the theft of 130 million credit and debit card numbers from from credit-card processor Heartland Payment Systems and retail chains 7-Eleven and Hannaford Brothers Co. He and two unidentified Russians were indicted Aug. 17 on those charges.

Police are searching the home of the couple charged with kidnapping Jaycee Dugard for possible evidence in the murders of several prostitutes in the 1990s, California authorities now say.

Several bodies were found near an industrial site in Pittsburg, Calif., where Garrido allegedly worked, said Capt. Daniel Terry of the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department. Police are trying to determine whether any of the killings are linked to Phillip and Nancy Garrido, who are in court at the moment being arraigned on charges including kidnap and rape in the 1991 abduction of Dugard when she was 11 years old.

Check back for updates.

Update at 5:03 p.m. ET: The Garridos have pleaded not guilty to all 29 charges, including multiple counts of kidnapping and kidnapping for purposes of rape or sexual assault.

Update at 5:13 p.m. ET: Contra Costa County Sheriff Warren Rupf apologized for two missed opportunities to uncover the kidnapping earlier. "This is not an acceptable outcome," he said. "I cannot change the course of events. We are beating up ourselves over this."

Rupf apologized to Dugard's family and said his department "accepted responsibility for having missed an earlier opportunity to rescue Jaycee."

Update at 5:37 p.m. ET: Terry of the Contra Costa Sheriff's Department said that 10 women were slain and that some of their bodies were found in 1998 and 1999. "Pittsburg police, for whatever reason, decided he was a person of interest," he told the San Francisco Chronicle.

(Photo of the Garridos' backyard compound in Antioch, Calif., by Noah Berger, AP.)

At least 50,000 mourners came to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library to pay their respects to Sen. Edward Kennedy yesterday and today, the Boston Globe tells us, citing police and library officials.

Public viewing ended at 3 p.m. ET so preparations can be made for tonight's memorial service.

(George Thomas of the Pequot tribe in Connecticut paused for a brief ritual today at the casket of Sen. Edward Kennedy. Photo by Stephan Savoia, AP.)

Confirming news reports Monday, the Los Angeles County coroner has ruled Michael Jackson's death a homicide resulting from an overdose of the anesthetic Propofol.

Other sedatives contributed to the death, most notably Lorazepam, the generic version of Ativan.

Jackson's physician, Conrad Murray, told police he gave the performer Propofol the morning of June 25 after several sedatives did not help Jackson sleep. Police are investigating Murray on possible manslaughter charges.

Montana officials are investigating a Thursday night boat crash that left U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., hospitalized, according to the Associated Press and other Montana newspapers.

Rehberg and state Republican Sen. Greg Barkus, who also was hospitalized, are in stable condition at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, hospital spokesman Jim Oliverson told the Great Falls Tribune. Oliverson said more information would be made available later today.

AP reports that three others riding in the 22-foot boat when it hit rocks near the shore also remain hospitalized.

The Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks calls it a “pretty serious” accident near Wayfarers State Park on the northeast shore of Flathead Lake. It says three people were evacuated by helicopter, but did not know whether that included Rehberg.

The others were taken to hospital via ambulance and are in stable condition. The park is closed today while investigators worked the crash scene.

Rehberg had been scheduled to hold two town hall meetings today.

The 2-year-old drought that has gripped Central Texas leading to water restrictions has helped one business grow in Austin: near-waterless carwashes.

The Austin American-Statesman reports that instead of using buckets of water or hoses, one new company called WaterSmart uses a Windex-like spray "that looks like orange juice and smells like Tang" to wipe down vehicles.

Sarah Morgan, who runs WaterSmart with her husband, steers clear of the term "waterless" because the spray itself is 98% water. But Morgan said the company uses about 6 ounces of the cleaning product per car.

By comparison, water use in professional American carwashes ranges from 15 gallons to 70 gallons, depending on the kind of carwash and whether it's self-serve, according to a study by the Illinois-based International Carwash Association.

Carwashes at WaterSmart cost $20 for a sedan and $25 for larger vehicles.

The Associated Press is reporting that New Mexico’s top federal prosecutor confirms that no charges will be brought against Gov. Bill Richardson and his former top aides after a probe of an alleged pay-to-play scheme.

But the U.S. attorney says that doesn’t exonerate the conduct of people involved.

U.S. Attorney Greg Fouratt made the comments in a letter sent to defense lawyers, a copy of which was obtained by the AP.

Fouratt said a federal investigation “revealed pressure from the governor’s office resulted in the corruption of the procurement process” in awarding work on state bond deals to a Richardson political contributor.

Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos issued a statement today saying Fouratt’s letter was “nothing more than sour grapes.”

An update to the unbelievable story of the girl held captive for 18 years who turned up with the man suspected of kidnapping her (see all of our blog posts below).

Jaycee Lee Dugard, who was 11 when she was abducted, was reunited with her family. The reunion included her two children fathered by her alleged abductor, Phillip Garrido, 58.

Dugard's stepfather, Carl Probyn, told CBS' Early Show this morning that everyone was "doing great."
He said the most surprising thing to his wife was that Dugard looks almost as she did when she was taken.

 “She looks very young, she looks very healthy,” Probyn said. “She told me that Jaycee feels really guilty for bonding with this guy. She has a real guilt trip.”

Garrido is set to be arraigned this afternoon.

Update 2:30 p.m. ET: The father of Phillip Garrido told AP today that his son is “absolutely out of his mind.”

Manuel Garrido said that his son fell into a bad crowd when he was younger and started taking LSD.

Manuel Garrido said the drugs changed his son from a good boy, whom everybody loved, to a crazy person. He told AP he hasn’t seen his son in years and has never been to the house where Phillip Garrido allegedly lived with Dugard, their two children and his wife, Nancy Garrido.

Update at 3:50 p.m. ET: The Garridos are scheduled to be arraigned at 4 p.m. ET in Placerville, El Dorado County.

(Booking photos of Phillip and Nancy Garrido by the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department.)

Seems as if Charles Barbarotto didn't much like the 60-foot-tall tree that towered in his neighbor's yard.

Our sister newspaper The Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro, Tenn., reports that Barbarotto is accused of drilling six holes in the silver maple tree and injecting it with a poison using a turkey baster.

Kevin Burger, the neighbor who owns the tree, says he has proof: He set up a surveillance camera that captures Barbarotto damaging the tree.

Barbarotto is facing six counts of "using pesticide in a manner that causes harm," along with vandalism in excess of $1,000 and criminal trespass. He's scheduled to appear in court in late September.

No word yet on why he wanted to kill the tree.

Check out the incredible pictures that the Los Angeles Times has of the wildfires raging in Southern California.

Fire crews are battling to save hundreds of homes threatened by two wildfires burning in dry, explosive brush near La Cañada Flintridge and on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the newspaper reports.

The two wildfires are the most active of four blazes raging in Los Angeles and Riverside counties.

Updated at 1:35 ET: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles and Monterey counties as the wildfires continue to burn large areas and threaten homes.
 

Buffalo starts a day of mourning today for the two firefighters who died together early Monday while trying to rescue someone they believed was trapped inside a burning building.

The Buffalo News reports that a somber procession with the body of Lt. Charles W. "Chip" McCarthy left a funeral home this morning bound for St. Joseph Cathedral. Later today, a procession with the casket of firefighter Jonathan Croom will move through the city to the same church for an afternoon service.

More than 10,000 firefighters from around the country are expected to attend the services.

Update 1:40 p.m. ET: More than 5,000 firefighters from around the country and Canada lined the streets to bid farewell to the hero firefighters.

Emmett Till’s family is donating the civil rights-era lynching victim’s original casket to the Smithsonian Institution, according to the Associated Press.

A news conference is planned for 10:30 ET today at the same Chicago church where the teen’s brutalized remains were displayed in the glass-topped casket in 1955. He was killed in Mississippi after whistling at a white woman.

Till’s casket will be at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., when it opens in 2015. It was found last month in a shed at the suburban Chicago cemetery where former workers are suspected of unearthing corpses and reselling plots.

Till’s remains weren’t disturbed. But after his body was exhumed in 2005 and reburied in a new casket, the original casket was discarded.

(The glass-topped casket of lynching victim Emmett Till was found in July in a shack at the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Ill. Photo by M. Spencer Green, AP.)

Good Morning. Happy Friday.

Headlines this morning:

Hundreds of people already are lining up this morning at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library to pay their final respects to Sen. Edward Kennedy as his body lies in repose inside the facility. More than 21,000 people filed by Kennedy's casket on Thursday -- so many that instead of closing at 11 the doors were open until 2 a.m.

Wildfires continued to burn today in California forcing hundreds to flea seaside neighborhoods. Up to 1,500 people were ordered to evacuate from the wealthy community of Ranchos Palos Verde.

And Tropical Storm Danny has weakened over the Atlantic and is barely a tropical storm anymore, but a storm watch for the North Carolina coast remains in effect.

Coming Friday:

• Thousands are expected to file past the body of Sen. Edward Kennedy, which will continue to lie in repose at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.

• More than 10,000 firefighters from around the country and Canada, plus New York Gov. David Paterson, are expected at funeral services for two Buffalo firefighters who died early Monday while battling a blaze.

• NASA will again attempt to launch the shuttle Discovery. Liftoff is set for 11:59 p.m. ET.

• The Commerce Department reports personal income and spending for July.

After she was abducted 18 years ago, Jaycee Dugard was kept isolated from the world in a shed, tents and outbuildings and later bore two children fathered by her alleged kidnapper, California authorities say.

El Dorado County Undersheriff Fred Kollar made the revelations at a news conference this afternoon, hours after a woman told police near San Francisco that she was the girl who was kidnapped near her South Lake Tahoe home in 1991 when she was 11 years old. DNA test are being conducted to confirm her identity, but authorities said they were "99% sure."

Dugard was reunited with her mother earlier today.

Phillip Garrido of Antioch is being held on $1 million bail on charges of kidnapping, rape by force, lewd and lascivious acts with a minor and sexual penetration. Garrido's second wife, Nancy, is also being held on $1 million bail, charged with conspiracy and kidnapping.

Garrido, 58, had served time in a Nevada federal prison for a 1999 sexual-assault conviction and was on parole. In the 1980s he had served time in Lompoc for kidnapping.

The Sacramento Bee spoke with Garrido's former wife, who said she divorced him after he was charged with rape and kidnap in the 1970s.

"This just blows me away," she said of the today's news.

Read the Bee's 1991 coverage of the kidnapping.

The Contra Costa Times has more on this story in its back yard.

See On Deadline's earlier postings below.

(FBI agents outside the home of Phillip and Nancy Garrido in Antioch, Calif., east of San Francisco. Photo by Noah Berger, AP.)

Los Angeles authorities are investigating the death of a man who was Tasered several times after he allegedly charged a sheriff's deputy at a subway station last night, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Here's the sheriff's explanation of what happened about 8:20 p.m. at the North Hollywood Red Line station:

“The deputy asked him if he had a ticket," said sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.

"The man did not respond, so the deputy again asked him if he had a ticket. He asked a total of three times and the man did not respond."

The deputy took hold of the man's hands to stop and question him, Whitmore said. But the man broke free, raised his clenched fists and charged the deputy, attempting to hit him. The deputy stepped aside, and the man charged the deputy again, he said.

The deputy used his Taser on the man, who jumped up, and was Tasered again. The man charged again and was Tasered a third time. He kept trying to get up but finally fell to the ground. A glass pipe used to smoke narcotics fell to the ground during the altercation, Whitmore said.

The incident is being investigated by the sheriff’s homicide and internal affairs bureaus, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office and the sheriff's office of independent review.

Starting Tuesday, most robocalls — those annoying recorded sales pitches — will be banned, the Federal Trade Commission announced today.

Telemarketers must first get written permission that you want to receive such calls. Penalties can be up to $16,000 per call.

You can file a complaint here or call toll-free: 1-877-382-4357.

There still are exceptions, however. Calls not covered by the new rules:

Politicians.

Surveys.

Banks.

Debt collectors.

Most charitable organizations.

Telephone carriers.

Utility companies.

Prescription refill notices and certain other health care messages.

"Informational" recordings such as flight cancellations, delivery notifications or school openings and closings.

Calls made by humans will still be allowed, but not if the phone number is on the National Do Not Call Registry.

Why the exceptions? The FTC says those entities are outside its jurisdiction.

Read the fine print (pdf), published in the Federal Register.

Here are the current rules on robocalls that were adopted last August, and how businesses must comply.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his wife were among the victims of an identity-fraud ring that stole more than $2.1 million from hundreds of Americans and at least 10 banks last year.

Newsweek broke the story two days ago, and the Associated Press has followed up today, so the story is gaining more attention.

Anna Bernanke's purse was stolen last August from her chair at a Capitol Hill Starbucks. The thieves got her Social Security card, checkbook and personal IDs. Someone then tried to deposit a $900 check drawn on the Bernankes' joint account. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

One ringleader, Clyde Austin Gray, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. His alias was “Big Head.”

The space agency will try to launch space shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station late Friday night, after bad weather and fuel-valve troubles triggered delays, the Associated Press just reported.

Liftoff time is now set for 11:59 p.m. ET, the AP says.

Seven astronauts assigned to the 13-day flight will deliver a load of supplies, including a treadmill named for Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert.

He won the online vote earlier this year for naming rights to a space station room that has not been launched yet. NASA went with the name Tranquility to honor this summer's 40th anniversary of the first manned lunar landing, AP says.

"Yeah, that will scare the aliens," deadpanned Colbert of the name Tranquility.

The Federal Communications Commission today approved a public inquiry designed, in the words of The Wall Street Journal, "to pave the way for further regulation of cellphone and mobile Internet providers."

In the future, the FCC could restrict exclusive deals that limit users' choice of carriers for in-demand products such as the iPhone of Palm's Pre smartphone, the Journal said.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said today that a state senator shouldn't attack him for his travels when other South Carolina governors used pricey travel options for years, the Associated Press reports.

Sanford said he'd sent a letter to state Sen. David Thomas pointing out hundreds of the tickets bought over the past 25 years during his predecessors' administrations.

“There's something wrong with selective outrage,” Sanford said. The governor spoke to reporters in Greenville outside the law office of Thomas, who has said Sanford broke state law with expensive flights. Both men are Republicans.

 An AP investigation showed the governor took pricey flights despite a law requiring state employees to use lowest-cost travel. Sanford has been under scrutiny since he revealed in June he'd visited a mistress in Argentina.

(Photo by Virginia Postic, AP)

Update at 1:14 p.m. ET: The Sacramento Bee reports that authorities have confirmed that the woman who walked into a police station is Jaycee Dugard, who was kidnapped in 1991 when she was 11. Authorities plan a news conference at 6 p.m. ET. "It's like winning the Lotto," said Dugard's stepfather, who said he remained under suspicion all these years.

A woman kidnapped 18 years ago from her California home has reportedly surfaced in Concord, Calif., the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Jaycee Dugard, who would be 29 today, apparently walked into the Concord Police Department on Wednesday, the Chronicle says. A news conference is scheduled for today.

Two people have been taken into custody, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer says.

The blue-eyed, blond 11-year-old was last seen on June 10, 1991, as she walked to a bus stop in South Lake Tahoe.  The Chronicle reports that her stepfather watched helplessly from the family's driveway on a hill about two blocks away when a two-tone gray sedan pulled up and someone yanked the girl into the car and sped off.

Even though officers responded within minutes, no trace of the car or girl was ever found.

Dugard's mother was on her way from her Southern California home for a reunion with her daughter, the Chronicle reports. We'll keep an eye on this.

Update at 4:34 p.m. ET: The Chronicle has more details about what happened:

Phillip Craig Garrido, 58, and his wife, Nancy Garrido, 55, who live in an unincorporated area near Antioch, were arrested in connection with the case, authorities said. Phillip Garrido was being held in lieu of $1 million bail on suspicion of kidnapping, rape by force, lewd and lascivious acts with a minor, sexual penetration and conspiracy.

Nancy Garrido was being held on suspicion of conspiracy and kidnapping. Her bail was also $1 million. Both were initially booked into the Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez, but have since been moved to an undisclosed site.

The Garridos were arrested Wednesday after they walked into a state parole office in Concord with a woman and two small children, officials with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said. Phillip Garrido, a registered sex offender, had been summoned because someone reported suspicious activity involving him and the two children the day before at UC Berkeley, officials said.

"Diligent questioning" and further investigation by state authorities and Concord police revealed that the woman was Dugard and the children were Phillip Garrido's, officials said in a statement.

Besides a 1999 conviction for sexual assault on Nevada, Garrido was convicted of kidnapping in 1980.

Neighbors reported that he "conducted religious revivals in a tent and said he had developed a device through which he could control sound with his mind," the Chron writes.

(Undated photo of Jaycee Dugard from her stepfather, William Carl Probyn, via the Orange County Register and AP. Photo of suspect Phillip Craig Garrido from the California Department of Justice. )

Seventeen-year-old Mike Perham cruised Thursday into Lizard Point, near the southernmost point of Britain and set the world record as the youngest person to sail solo around the globe.

Freeze-dried food and 20-minute sleep intervals sustained the British teen during his 30,000-mile, 282-day journey that pitted him against waves as high as 50 feet and winds as fast as 57 mph, CNN reports.

Listen to the BBC's interview with Perham and see a video of his celebration while crossing the finish line here. Also, take a look at Perham's last video blog entry at the bottom of this post and view the entire series here.

"It feels absolutely brilliant," Perham told CNN by phone hours before crossing the finish line. "I'm really, really excited to be going across the line at last. It doesn't feel like long since I crossed it first."

Perham has also commented on a Dutch case in which the government has threatened to take a 13-year-old girl from her family if her parents do not agree to stop her Sept. 1 plan to set sail  around the globe by herself, the Daily Telegraph reports. A decision in the case is expected Friday.

"Is it OK for a 13-year-old girl to sail around the world on her own? Is It OK to climb a tree? Both questions have no right answer," Perham told the British paper. "Age is only a number, it's what makes the person that is important."

Photo credit: Handout via AFP/Getty Images

Boeing said today that the much-delayed 787 Dreamliner will make its first test flight by year's end -- and said it still expects its 787 production to be profitable, Dow Jones Newswire reports. 

The first delivery, to All Nippon Airways, is slated for late in 2010, the sixth delay for a plane once scheduled to arrive in May 2008. Boeing said it expects to produce 10 Dreamliners a month in late 2013.

The Chicago Tribune notes that Boeing has been struggling with a groundbreaking design and a new way of manufacturing the plane that placed much of its development in the hands of subcontractors. The complex, midsized jet features a new generation of electronics systems and a shell made mostly of super-hardened plastics.

"We understand the need to make the best and safest aircraft possible and appreciate that delays due to engineering," All Nippon said in a statement. "However, as launch customer and future operator of the 787, the length of this further delay is a source of great dismay, not to say frustration."

Add cash for cribs to the stack of programs modeled after the government's car swap program.

Toys "R" Us is offering customers the chance to trade used cribs, car seats and other children's items in exchange for a store discount.  

The three-week program begins Friday and ends Sept. 20. Customers will receive a 20% discount on selected items, and there is no limit to the number of products to be turned in.

"The Great Trade-In" event was spurred by a lukewarm response to numerous high-profile recalls on baby products, the Los Angeles Times reports. Even though bargains abound for secondhand cribs, strollers and high chairs, the toy giant cautioned that evolving safety standards, missed safety recalls and the inability to know a product's true history can be a serious hazard for children.

"When a grandmother pulls an old crib out of the garage, when a mom puts her child's car seat for sale online ... these transactions can potentially pass on a dangerous product," the director of public affairs for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission told the San Francisco Chronicle.

The toy giant is limiting the program to its U.S. stores but may offer Canadian customers the same deal depending its success, according to Canwest News Service.

Photo credit: By Frank Franklin II, AP

What should have been 30 seconds, 10 shots and a possible $9,500 paycheck turned into a scuffle with the law for photographer Zach Hyman and model KC Neill Thursday.

Hyman, known for his series featuring nude models in front of New York City landmarks, had the 26-year-old Neill quickly strip and pose in front of the Arms and Armour exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Police busted up the shoot and charged Neill with public lewdness.

"It's not pornography," Hyman told NBC New York, "It's a study on the human form." The news outlet got the inside scoop, interviewing Hyman and Neill before the shoot and had their cameras rolling to catch the drama.

"I thought it was cool to juxtapose the nude woman with the art in the room," a Canadian tourist told the New York Post. "I was surprised by how many people didn't even notice her."

Take a look at NBC New York's video below. Also, view censored photos of Hyman's work here.

Readers: What do you think about the relationship between nudity and art?

Good morning. It's Thursday.

Passings: Several sites continue to highlight reflections on Sen. Edward Kennedy's death. Three days of rites begin today. Kennedy's body will be moved to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston after a private family Mass in Hyannis Port, Mass. A private, invitation-only funeral Friday night will be followed by a Saturday Mass and burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

Across the USA: Tropical Storm Danny has gained strength in the Pacific, and forecasters press Carolina and New England residents to be alert.

Health concerns mount in the Los Angeles area as smoke from two brush fires in the Angeles National Forest continues to linger, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Around the world: In a controversial move, the president of Taiwan said he will allow the Dalai Lama to  visit next week The New York Times reports.

Technology: USA TODAY's Ed Baig takes a look at Apple's new Snow Leopard operating system and whether it's a "must-have" upgrade.

Coming Thursday:

• Sheila Bair, head of the Federal Depository Insurance Corp., announces second-quarter earnings for the banking industry.

• Economic reports: weekly unemployment claims and Gross Domestic Product for the second quarter.

• In California, lawmakers are expected to vote on two significant pieces of animal-protection legislation.

• The New York State Fair opens. Here's a preview.

• Poland commemorates the 65th anniversary of the liquidation of the ghetto in Lodz, which one of Poland's largest Jewish communities called home before World War II.

An Iraqi immigrant in the Detroit area has filed a federal lawsuit against a Michigan judge who told her to remove her Islamic head scarf in court.

Raneen Albaghdady of Dearborn Heights alleges that Wayne County Judge William Callahan violated her U.S. constitutional rights to freedom of religion and to access to the courts. The suit seeks to forbid state judges from ordering women to remove their Islamic head coverings, called hijabs.

Albaghdady, 32, is a member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which filed the suit on her behalf.

Here's CAIR's news release.

The incident occurred June 16 when Albaghdady was petitioning for a name change.

"I was hurt, the way he treated me," Albaghdady said today at a news conference at the Michigan offices of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Southfield. "I was really, really scared and terrified."

The Detroit News writes that a video transcript of the hearing shows that Albaghdady "never objected to removing the scarf or told the judge the scarf had religious significance."

The News continues: "The scarf Albaghdady wore was not tucked in or tied around her chin in the way hijabs are typically worn, said her attorney, Nabih Ayad of Canton Township. The video shows Albaghdady wore a large headpiece that Ayad described as a hair clip after she moved the scarf down to around her shoulders in response to the judge. "

In a statement today, Callahan said he has "the greatest respect for spiritual practices and all religious preferences," and "had he been informed that the head covering had some religious significance, the judge would have permitted it."

Here's the transcript, according to the News:

Callahan: "The headpiece...

Albaghdady: "I'm sorry?"

Callahan: "No hats allowed in the courtroom."

Man seated in the courtroom: "It's not a hat. It's a scarf."

Callahan: "Excuse me, sir."

Albaghdady: "This one?"

Callahan: "No hats allowed in the courtroom."

Albaghdady: "This one?"

Callahan: "Yes."

Albaghdady: "OK. It doesn't matter."

Ayad said that as an immigrant from Iraq, Albaghdady would have obeyed the judge regardless: "He's god, and it's very, very intimidating."

Last month Georgia's judicial authority approved the wearing of head coverings in court. The Judicial Council of Georgia said the policy "is designed to balance a court’s legitimate security concerns with a person’s right to practice his or her faith in a public place. Under the new policy, if a security officer wanted to conduct a search, the person would have the option of having the inspection performed in a private area by an officer of the same gender."