 Universal Preschool, formerly known as Sunnyside Infant and Preschool Center, in Livermore 
 
 Two sisters facing charges that they endangered infants' lives by binding them too tightly in swaddling blankets have pleaded not guilty in Alameda County Superior Court. "Both women let their thick hair fall in front of their faces to avoid being seen in court and were wearing large, red jumpsuits that concealed their pregnant bellies," the Oakland Tribune reported. The sisters were arraigned on three counts of felony child abuse and neglect and four counts of misdemeanor child abuse and neglect, stemming from an investigation by Livermore police into their care of infants at Universal Preschool LLC, at 1040 Florence Road. The Oakland Tribune (http://bit.ly/11T42tt0 ) reports that Nazila and Lida Sharaf entered their pleas Monday in Alameda County Superior Court. Lida Sharaf's second child is due in July, and Nazila Sharaf is 4½ months pregnant and also has a son, who celebrated his 9th birthday the day of his mother's arraignment, Benitez said after the hearing at the Gale-Schenone Hall of Justice in Pleasanton. Advertisement 
 
 Both women are in protective custody at Santa Rita Jail, officials said. Bail was originally set at $700,000 for each woman but was reduced to $340,000 during Thursday's court proceedings. A dozen family members and friends showed up to support the pair, while several parents and others attended the hearing to show their outrage about the alleged abuse at the preschool. They were arrested last week at their homes Wednesday in Dublin and Mountain House after being accused of wrapping infants in swaddling clothes -- a tactic used to lull newborns to sleep, the news source reported -- so tightly that the babies had "trouble breathing." The Sharaf sisters maintain that they in no way intended to hurt the babies with their swaddling methods, Rien said. Authorities say the women wrapped seven babies up like boa constrictors at their Livermore preschool, impairing the children's ability to move and breathe. Thirty parents of 19 infants were interviewed during the investigation, police said.
– Two sisters who run a day care in California have posted a total of $680,000 bail on charges that they endangered the lives of infants under their care, reports NBC Bay Area. The case is drawing national attention for the unusual nature of the charges—Nazila and Lida Sharaf are accused of wrapping the babies too tightly in swaddling blankets. They have pleaded not guilty to felony charges of child abuse. "They basically restrained these children, almost like a boa constrictor," a police officer tells the Bay Area News Group. "All of these children could have died in the process of binding these extremities." The investigation began after social services officials received complaints, though doctors who examined the infants found no sign of injuries. Lida Sharaf lost a license to run a preschool in 2010 on similar swaddling charges. Both sisters are mothers themselves, and both are pregnant, notes AP.