MASON, Ohio - A man wearing a woman's wig and a string bikini was charged with taking a drunken afternoon romp through a park, officials said.

Steven S. Cole, a 46-year-old volunteer firefighter, told an officer he was on his way to a Dayton bar to perform as a woman in a contest offering a $10,000 prize, the arrest report said.

He pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of drunken driving, public indecency and disorderly conduct.

Cole was arrested Tuesday after police received a report that an intoxicated man was walking and driving around Heritage Oak Park in Mason. Police said Cole was wearing a blond wig, pink flip-flops and a red-black-and-white striped bikini with the top filled out by tan water balloons.

His blood-alcohol test registered 0.174, more than twice Ohio's legal driving limit of 0.08, the arrest report said.

Cole remained free on his own recognizance until trial, set for May 24. Messages left for Cole and his attorney, Charles Rittgers, were not immediately returned.

Cole has been a Wayne Township firefighter since 2000. Township officials said he will be placed on administrative leave.

'A Christmas Story' director Bob Clark dies in L.A. car crash

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Bob Clark, whose film "A Christmas Story" became a seasonal fixture for its bittersweet cataloguing of holiday dreams and disappointments, was killed with his son in a car crash. He was 67.

Clark and Ariel Hanrath-Clark, 22, were traveling on the Pacific Coast Highway in the Pacific Palisades when they were killed Wednesday, said Lyne Leavy, Clark's personal assistant.

Their car was struck head-on by an SUV that a drunken driver steered into the wrong lane, police said.

"It's a tragic day for all of us who knew and loved Bob Clark," said Scott Schwartz, who played the flagpole-licking character Flick in "A Christmas Story" and kept in touch with Clark over the years. "Bob was a fun-lovin', jelly-roll kinda guy who will be sorely missed."

The driver of the other vehicle, Hector Velazquez-Nava, 24, of Los Angeles was arrested and booked for investigation of driving under the influence of alcohol and gross vehicular manslaughter. He was being held on $100,000 bail.

"The initial investigation has concluded that Nava was driving without a license northbound in the southbound lanes while under the influence of an alcoholic beverage," said Lt. Paul Vernon, a police spokesman.

An LAPD officer said early Thursday she didn't know if Nava had an attorney.

Clark had a prolific movie and TV directing career. He specialized in horror movies and thrillers early on, directing such 1970s movies as "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things," "Murder by Decree," "Breaking Point" and "Black Christmas," which was remade last year.

His breakout success came with 1981's sex farce "Porky's," a coming-of-age romp that he followed two years later with "Porky's II: The Next Day."

In 1983, he directed, co-produced and co-wrote "A Christmas Story," an adaptation of Jean Shepherd's childhood memoir of a boy in the 1940s.

The film starred Peter Billingsly as Ralphie Parker, a young boy determined to get a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas.

The film was a modest theatrical success, but critics loved it. It eventually joined "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street" as one of the Christmas films audiences watch year after year.

In 1994, Clark directed a forgettable sequel, "It Runs in the Family," featuring Charles Grodin, Mary Steenburgen and Kieran Culkin in a continuation of Shepherd's memoirs.

In recent years, Clark made family comedies that were savaged by critics, including "Karate Dog," "Baby Geniuses" and its sequel, "Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2."

Among Clark's other movies were Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton's "Rhinestone," Timothy Hutton's "Turk 182!", and Gene Hackman and Dan Aykroyd's "Loose Cannons."

Wet, heavy spring snow blankets upper Northeast, leaving more than 100,000 in the dark

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - A spring storm brought more than a foot of snow to parts of the upper Northeast, closing schools, tangling traffic and knocking out power to more than 180,000 homes and businesses on Thursday.

At least one death was blamed on the wintry weather, which began late Wednesday and was expected to continue through the weekend.

The flakes fell at a rate of up to 2 inches per hour, and by early Thursday, areas of Maine already had nearly a foot and a half of wet, heavy snow, and central New Hampshire saw 16 inches in spots. Up to 13 inches fell in Vermont, and upstate New York had several inches as well.

The spring snow followed a winter that was often unusually warm.

"We had Easter on December 25th. People had crocuses coming out and blooms on bushes. And now we have Christmas, with all this snow," said meteorologist Butch Roberts of the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine. "It's a little topsy-turvy sometimes."

Maine baseball fans shared in the misery as the Portland Sea Dogs season opener was postponed for at least a day, but the team made the best of it, dotting the field with 11 snowmen in jerseys and caps - nine players, a batter and an ump. It was the second time since 1994 that opening day was delayed by late snow.

In Manchester, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats canceled Thursday night's home opener but put out the call for fans to help clear the turf for a Friday game. Volunteers who show up with shovels get free tickets.

Snowfall in April is not unusual, but the volume of snow in this storm was relatively rare. Portland's 11.6 inches tied a record for its fifth-biggest April snowfall.

Jon Blanchard, spending his first night back in Portland after a winter in Florida, was awakened Thursday by the sound of tree limbs snapping under the weight of the heavy snow.

He put aside plans of unloading his camper and fired up his snow blower instead.

"I hate it," Blanchard said. "That's why I spent the whole winter in Florida."

The weighed-down trees and limbs also felled power lines. About 100,000 homes and businesses lost power in Maine, in and around Alfred, Brunswick and Portland; another 80,000 customers were in the dark in New Hampshire, and Vermont had about 1,300 outages.

Outages could continue as snow melts and more trees fall, utilities said, and a spokesman in Maine said many customers there would be in the dark into Friday.

The heavy, wet snow clogged roads early Thursday, prompting school officials to cancel or delay classes around the region.

A man was killed in New Hampshire when his car ran off Interstate 93 and hit a tree during the storm Wednesday night on the Canterbury-Concord line, state police said.

A tractor-trailer carrying oxygen bottles skidded and rolled over Wednesday night on the Everett Turnpike in Merrimack. Bottles rolled out, and it took crews all night to clear the road, though none of the bottles broke. The driver was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

Cars were also reported off the road in Maine, and police said a 17-year-old girl's death Wednesday on a slippery road in Topsham may have been weather-related.

At ski areas, the snow was a welcome lift.

"It's going to help us close the season strong," said Chris Lenois, a spokesman for Vermont's Mount Snow, which ends its season on Sunday. About 6 inches fell in West Dover.

Associated Press writer Jerry Harkavy in Portland, Maine, contributed to this report.

On the Net:

Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com

National Weather Service: http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov

Intellicast: http://www.intellicast.com

Woman charged with assaulting girl while posing as a boy; teen was suspicious of 'boyfriend'

SEATTLE (AP) - A 14-year-old girl authorities allege was sexually abused by a 30-year-old woman who posed as a teenage boy said she didn't know about the ruse but eventually suspected it.

"I kind of, like, guessed, but then every time I questioned her, she would get really mad," the girl told KOMO-TV of Seattle on Wednesday, "so I just stopped caring."

Prosecutors allege that Lorelei Corpuz posed as a 17-year-old orphan to gain the trust of the girl's family, then beat and molested her. She was charged this week with two counts of third-degree child rape and one count of third-degree child molestation and was being held in lieu of $150,000 bail.

The girl said in the KOMO interview that she had been lonely before the yearlong relationship began. Corpuz, who called herself Mark, met the girl at a mall and moved in with her.

"Well, he was really nice, and he knew how to talk to me, because I didn't really have anybody to talk to because my mom and dad are always at work," she said.

She told The Seattle Times in an interview published Thursday that the relationship initially was "a regular teenage girlfriend-boyfriend thing, like holding hands, hugging, kissing," but over time "she made it like a serious relationship, like we're married."

Everett police Officer Don de Nevens wrote in a probable cause statement that although Corpuz had sexual contact with the girl, "the suspect never let victim see her/his private parts and victim always thought that suspect was male until officer informed her otherwise."

Police said Corpuz was found out Sunday after an officer checked the suspect's vehicle, parked at an Everett gas station, to see whether it was stolen. The officer arrested Corpuz after the check pulled up an outstanding traffic warrant under an alias, Mark Villanueva.

The 14-year-old also was in the vehicle, and the officer, who recognized Corpuz from an earlier arrest, asked the girl how she knew the suspect.

"She indicated it was her boyfriend," Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said. "That obviously piqued the concern of the officer."

Authorities allege Corpuz had sex with the girl, beat her and bit her twice on the back, leaving a scar. The Associated Press does not publish the names of people who allege they were sexually assaulted.

Snohomish County prosecutors have filed charges in District Court against Corpuz, but expected to refile them in Superior Court. Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said he did not know if Corpuz had obtained a lawyer.

With the help of a Vietnamese interpreter, officers interviewed the girl's mother on Wednesday, Goetz said. The mother indicated the family remains shocked by Corpuz's true identity, he said.

Two tree-dwelling apes mysteriously die at Louisville Zoo weeks after giving birth

By: - LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A pair of tree-dwelling apes at the Louisville Zoo died Wednesday, six weeks after giving birth to their first offspring, zoo officials said.

Ziggy, 15, and Sue Ann, 9, both siamang apes, were found dead in their habitat, but what killed them remained a mystery, said Steve Wing, the zoo's general curator.

"We are still at a loss as to what happened," Wing said. "They were fine the night of April 3 when we checked on them, they were active, bright, alert and eating well."

The pair was recently in the news with the birth of their first offspring, a male who was born at the Zoo Feb. 20. Baby Zoli is in an incubator and being cared for by staff.

State Medical Examiner Dr. Barbara Weakley-Jones performed post-mortem exams, and other tests are being run to determine a cause of death.

Siamangs are a tree-dwelling ape native to Southeast Asia. They can swing across formidable gaps between branches, launching themselves 30-50 feet, using their hands as hooks.

Auction house previews Jackson family items for Las Vegas sale

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Michael Jackson's gold record award for the "Thriller" album, a "Victory Tour" program signed by Jackson family members, and handwritten lyrics for the 1970 Jackson Five hit "ABC" are among the items to be auctioned next month unless the entertainer moves to block the sale, officials said.

Arlan Ettinger, founder and president of Guernsey's Auction House, compared plans to sell more than 1,100 Jackson family items May 30-31 to an auction of Elvis Presley Graceland memorabilia he conducted in Las Vegas in 1999.

"It certainly is in that sphere of landmark, high profile, extraordinary auctions," Ettinger told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

A representative of Michael Jackson said the pop icon was considering legal action to stop the auction planned for the Hard Rock hotel resort in Las Vegas.

"Mr. Jackson was not aware and he is extremely upset that his memorabilia was included amongst the memorabilia that is being auctioned off," said Raymone K. Bain, Jackson's spokeswoman in Washington, D.C.

Ettinger said the collection was owned by luggage transportation company Universal Express Inc., of Boca Raton, Fla., which bought it last year from a New Jersey construction company owner.

The former owner, Henry Vaccaro, claimed a warehouse full of Jackson memorabilia after a failed business venture wound up in bankruptcy court. Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson sued to stop Vaccaro from taking ownership, but a Los Angeles judge threw out Michael Jackson's claim in 2006.

The status of Janet Jackson's claim was unclear Wednesday. Messages left with her publicist were not immediately returned.

Vaccaro's lawyer, Edgar Pease III, claimed during the unsuccessful prosecution of Michael Jackson on child molestation charges that he turned over items from the warehouse in Oxnard, Calif., to the Santa Barbara County, Calif., district attorney's office that included skin bleach, soiled underwear, sexual videotapes and sexual paraphernalia.

Pease did not immediately respond Wednesday to a message seeking comment.

Ettinger said parts of the warehouse collection - mostly personal and performance belongings of Michael, Janet, Jermaine, Tito, La Toya, and other family members - would be previewed to the media Thursday at Guernsey's Auction House in New York.

They included a white fedora, believed to be from Michael Jackson's 1987 "Bad" album music video, to brother Randy Jackson's futuristic 1984 stage boots.

He said other items date to the 1960s, when Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael toured as The Jackson Five. Included are a test pressing of the 1969 hit "I Want You Back," the first No. 1 single for The Jackson Five.

Also offered will be Marlon Jackson's glitter jacket, costumes from the five boys' appearance on Sonny and Cher's television show in 1974, and a Mae West costume worn by a young Janet Jackson performing with all nine Jackson children at the MGM Grand hotel in 1974.

Michael Jackson has been living in Las Vegas while he evaluates proposals for a comeback after his June 2005 acquittal in Santa Barbara County.

His father, former Jackson Five manager Joe Jackson who also lives in Las Vegas, did not respond to a telephone message seeking comment.

Ohio substitute teacher accused of quieting kindergartners with clothespins

By: - AMANDA, Ohio (AP) - A substitute teacher's tool for silencing chatty kindergartners - clothespins - doesn't wash with school officials.

Four boys said spring-type clothespins were placed over their upper or lower lips for talking too much in class, Amanda-Clearcreek Primary School principal Mike Johnsen wrote in a letter to parents this week.

Ruth Ann Stoneburner, a retired school nurse who had worked as a substitute for several years, confirmed to Johnsen that she had used the clothespin discipline March 26, he said.

Stoneburner will not work again in the Amanda-Clearcreek district and was being reported to the state education department, Superintendent J.B. Dick said Wednesday.

Officials found out about the discipline after a parent complained. The students weren't hurt, but the punishment isn't condoned by the district, Dick said.

Stoneburner could not be reached for comment at phone listings under her last name in Amanda, which is about 25 miles southeast of Columbus.

State education department spokesman J.C. Benton said that while he could not comment on this specific case, the department can suspend or revoke the licenses of teachers that it finds have engaged in unbecoming behavior.

Kevin Costner sues music promoters for millions in breach of contract action

LOS ANGELES - Kevin Costner has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against a New York-based music promoter for allegedly breaching a contract to promote the Oscar-winning actor's musical performances, court records showed Thursday.

Costner filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Mahee Worldwide Ventures Inc.

Costner is the lead singer in the Kevin Costner Band, for which he also writes songs. He also has a company, Kevin's Music LLC, that manages his musical activities.

According to the lawsuit, the two sides on Jan. 25 entered a two-year agreement providing for Costner and his band to perform be up to five concerts.

"Defendants made numerous promises regarding their capabilities to promote Mr. Costner's music and (their) willingness to pay for the right to do so," the lawsuit stated. "Instead… defendants continued to make false promises and ultimately disappeared …," the lawsuit stated.

A representative for Mahee World Ventures was not immediately available for comment.

-- North County Times wire services

15 months after nearly dying in W.Va. Sago Mine, sole survivor is a new father

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - Sago Mine survivor Randal McCloy Jr. is a father for the third time, and the first time since he miraculously lived through an explosion that killed 12 fellow miners.

Anna McCloy gave birth to Isaac Martin McCloy at a Clarksburg hospital Thursday, her father-in-law's birthday. The 6-pound, 5-ounce boy is 19 inches long and was resting comfortably with his mother Thursday afternoon, family spokeswoman Aly Goodwin Gregg said.

"He's just beautiful," she said. "He looks just like Randy."

McCloy, 27, of Simpson, was the only man on a 13-member crew to survive the Jan. 2, 2006, explosion and prolonged entrapment at the underground coal mine near Buckhannon. He inhaled carbon monoxide for more than 41 hours, and doctors have never been able to fully explain why only the youngest of the miners survived.

McCloy still suffers some vision and hearing impairment, as well as continuing weakness on the right side. He finished physical therapy at a rehabilitation center last summer but resumed treatment as an outpatient in March.

The McCloys' older children are 5-year-old Randal III and 2-year-old Isabel.

Wyo. lesbian couple denied Communion over their public stand

GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) - Leah Vader and Lynne Huskinson, a lesbian couple who got married in Canada last August, sent a letter recently to their state legislator decrying a Wyoming bill that would deny recognition of same-sex marriages. The lawmaker read the letter on the floor of the Legislature.

Soon after, the local paper interviewed the couple on Ash Wednesday and ran a story and pictures of them with ash on their foreheads, a mark of their Roman Catholic faith.

It wasn't long after that that the couple received a notice from their parish church telling them they have been barred from receiving Communion.

"If all this stuff hadn't hit the newspaper, it wouldn't have been any different than before - nobody would have known about it," said the couple's parish priest at St. Matthew's, the Rev. Cliff Jacobson. "The sin is one thing. It's a very different thing to go public with that sin."

Catholics deemed sinners in the eyes of the church are sometimes taken aside and privately advised not to take Communion. But Cheyenne Bishop David Ricken, gay Catholic organizations and a national church spokeswoman said they could not recall any previous instance of a U.S. bishop denying the sacrament to a gay couple in writing.

Now Huskinson and Vader say they are struggling to reconcile their devotion to the church with their devotion to each other.

"You spend half your time defending your gayness to Catholics," Vader said, "and the other half of your time defending your Catholicism to gays."

The couple, who regularly attended Mass and took Communion, have not been back to St. Matthew's since they received the letter a month and a half ago. Vader said they did not want to make a scene.

The 46-year-old newlyweds - Vader is a supervisor at a recycling center, Huskinson a coal miner - ran afoul of a sort of don't-ask-don't-tell policy on the church's part.

"I told my wife in good conscience that if I had known those ladies, and we'd have been having a beer, I'd have just told them to keep everything to themselves," parish music director John Chick said. He added that once news like this hits the papers, "someone's forced to deal with it now, aren't they?"

The parish priest said that after the couple put their engagement and marriage announcements in the local paper, he ran reminders of the church's teachings in the parish bulletin as a warning.

After the Ash Wednesday story, the priest sent this letter: "It is with a heavy heart, in obedience to the instruction of Bishop David Ricken, that I must inform you that, because of your union and your public advocacy of same-sex unions, that you are unable to receive Communion."

The bishop said the couple's sex life constitutes a grave sin, "and the fact that it became so public, that was their choice."

Last fall, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops overwhelmingly approved new guidelines that say parishes should welcome gays while telling them to be celibate because the church considers their sexuality "disordered." The bishops said that anyone who knowingly persists in sinful behavior, such as gay sex or using artificial contraception, should refrain from taking Communion.

Professor Carl Raschke, chairman of religious studies at the University of Denver, said of the Cheyenne bishop's decision: "It's no more surprising that the Catholic Church would deny Communion to an openly gay couple than a Muslim mosque would deny access to somebody who ate pork."

Sister Mary Ann Walsh, spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the church allows local bishops to handle decisions on who may take Communion, so there is no record of how many have been barred from receiving the sacrament.

Walsh said most cases she has heard of involved public figures. During the 2004 presidential campaign, the St. Louis archbishop Raymond Burke said he would deny Communion to John Kerry, a Catholic who supports abortion rights.

Vader said the couple never made any secret of their relationship. She pointed to statuettes of two kissing Dutch girls in front of their single-wide trailer home. She also said that the couple posed for a church directory family photo with Vader's children from a previous marriage, and that the church has sent mail to both of them at the same address for years.

Huskinson questioned why Catholics having premarital sex and using birth control are not barred from receiving Communion, too. But the parish priest said the difference is this: The other Catholics are "not going around broadcasting, `Hey I'm having sex outside of marriage' or `I'm using birth control."'

Lawyer: Yale students charged in U.S. flag burning pulled prank, not politics

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - Three Yale University students arrested in the torching of an American flag on a front porch were not trying to make a political statement, their attorney said Thursday.

Said Hyder Akbar, 23, Nikolaos Angelopoulos, 19, and Farhad Anklesaria, 19, were charged with arson, reckless endangerment and other crimes.

Akbar - who translated for U.S. troops in Afghanistan and testified at the trial of a former CIA contractor convicted in a detainee's death - set the flag ablaze, attorney William Dow said. The other two students maintain their innocence, he said.

"There was absolutely no political motivation. It was a foolish college prank, which (Akbar) regrets and for which he intends to apologize," Dow said.

Akbar is a U.S. citizen born in Pakistan. His father was a spokesman for the Afghan president and served as a regional governor.

Akbar worked as an informal translator for U.S. forces during the invasion of Afghanistan and published a memoir, "Come Back to Afghanistan."

"He's an ardent supporter of the United States' position in Afghanistan by word and deed," Dow said.

The three were arrested early Tuesday morning after officers on patrol spotted the burning flag and tore it from pole where it was mounted to the house, police said.

The three each posted bond later in the day.

Anna Nicole Smith diaries detail thoughts on love, sex and weight

DALLAS (AP) - Two diaries penned by Anna Nicole Smith in the early 1990s reveal a troubled young woman professing to be deeply in love with octogenarian oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, and often depressed and concerned about her weight and eating habits.

"I've been really stressed out lately and depressed and I can't quit eating. I feel like a pig," the former Playboy Playmate, who died Feb. 8 in a Florida hotel from a drug overdose, wrote in an entry dated Aug. 16, 1992.

The starlet's journals, made available exclusively to The Associated Press on Thursday, are among several pieces of Smith memorabilia going up for public auction in a few weeks by Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas.

One diary is a purple and green Hallmark hardbound book that includes a handwritten message on the inside cover: "This diary belongs to Vickie Smith. Do Not Read!"

Smith, whose real name is Vickie Lynn Smith, noted - in a very freeform style - the beginning of her relationship with Paul Marciano, CEO of Guess Inc., where she eventually replaced Claudia Schiffer in the company's jeans advertisements.

"O my Gosh!! Paul Marsiano called today to see if I got his books also I'm gonna go to San Antonio to do photo shoot," she wrote on June 23, 1992. "I'm so excited!! I can't believe this. This could be it." The entry ends with five hand-drawn smiley faces.

Two days later she details a trip to a Nieman Marcus store where she bought $3,000 worth of clothing.

"I'm so happy they look great," she wrote. "I hope it empresses Paul Marsiano. … I'm starving!! I've been starving myself."

By August, Smith revealed a disdain for eating and sex, and growing frustration with Marshall, who was 63 years older than Smith. The two married in 1994.

"I've been really stressed out lately and depressed and I can't quit eating. I feel like a pig. Howard has been buying me som jewelry but he call me 15 or 20 times a day it drives me crazy. I love him but he aggravates me somtimes," she wrote. "I don't no what to do about Paul hes strange guy. I hate for men to want sex all the time."

The entry ends with a large underlined "Chow!"

On June 13, 1992, she wrote that she was hung over and stayed home to watch a movie, adding that she "Took a Zandrex!"

An autopsy report showed Smith died at age 39 on from an accidental overdose of at least nine prescription drugs - including a powerful sleep aid - and that there was no foul play.

Her second diary is a much smaller spiral-bound paperback Guess Kids calendar from 1994. The individual entries are not dated but describe her relationship with Marshall, who was ill and died in 1995.

"Hes so very weak and fragile When I touch him Im afraid he might break," she wrote. "If Jesus desides to take him I dont no what I'll do. I love him so much it hurts me to site and watch him when hes hurting I just want to hold him touch him let him no how much I care."

After Marshall's death, the Texas high-school dropout who became a topless dancer took her fight for his estimated $500 million fortune as far as the Supreme Court.

That ongoing battle could make her infant daughter, Dannielynn, very wealthy. Howard K. Stern, her lawyer-turned-companion, and two other men have claimed to be the baby's father.

The auction house obtained the journals from an anonymous German businessman who purchased them and other items on eBay for more than $500,000 several weeks ago.

Doug Norwine, director of music and entertainment memorabilia at Heritage, said the man decided to auction the diaries after securing the publishing rights. Opening bids will start a $20,000, Norwine said, and he expects the diaries to fetch as much as $100,000.

On the Net:

Heritage Auction Galleries: http://www.ha.com

Judge in arrested astronaut case moves to limit lawyers' contact with media

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - The judge presiding over the trial of fired astronaut Lisa Marie Nowak asked lawyers on both sides Thursday to limit media contact, and temporarily sealed some court documents.

Nowak is accused of trying to kidnap a rival for a space shuttle pilot's affections.

The case has drawn international attention, and Orange County Circuit Judge Marc L. Lubet said he was "just trying to keep the media frenzy down to a dull roar."

Lubet did not bar attorneys from talking to reporters, but told both sides they weren't allowed to issue any "press releases." Neither the defense nor the prosecution objected, but neither had sought any restrictions.

Nowak was fired from NASA about a month after her Feb. 5 arrest. Police say she drove from Houston to Florida to confront Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman in an Orlando airport parking lot and then pepper-sprayed her. Shipman, who was dating astronaut Bill Oefelein, was able to get away.

Police reported finding a BB gun, steel mallet, knife and rubber tubing in Nowak's car.

Nowak, 43, a married mother of three, has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted kidnapping, burglary with assault and battery. She is free on bail but did not attend the hearing Thursday.

Some documents in the case were due for public release under state law as early as this week, prosecutors told the judge. Defense attorney Donald Lykkebak, however, said the release of some of those documents, such as the search warrant papers for Nowak's car, would violate her privacy.

"They took a whole bunch of stuff - personal stuff, that won't be evidence in the case," Lykkebak said.

Lubet ordered that the documents remain sealed and set a hearing for Monday to consider their release. The judge also ordered that Nowak's psychological evaluations be sealed, kept out of the court file and stored in his chambers.

"All of the things I'm doing are in an effort to see that the state and Miss Nowak get a fair trial," Lubet said.

Lubet also said he wanted the trial to start in September instead of July. Lykkebak said that likely wouldn't be a problem; he had requested more time to evaluate his client's mental health for a potential insanity defense.

Nowak, a Navy captain, is to begin a new job at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi by the end of the month.