All Over Albany

In jail, but out working

Albany County Jail inmates assembling a display for the Capital Holiday Lights in Park in Washington Park.

A few weeks ago we got an email from Laura, who noticed that inmates from the Albany County Jail were putting up the holiday light display in Washington Park. "I suppose there are many points of view on prisoners working," she wrote, "but it looks like chain gang labor to me."

We've noticed prisoners working on other projects throughout the county, too. And Laura's note got us curious about what kind of jobs they're doing and how the program works.

(there's more)

The airport, photographs, and free speech

Updated

You probably saw the video this week from ALB -- two people recording their effort to hand out flyers about opting out of the full body scan, an airport official asks them to stop, they say no, and an Albany County sheriff's deputy tells the airport official the two people are exercising their rights. The video has racked up more than 100,000 views on YouTube.

The airport released a statement saying its "concern -- as it always is -- was for the safety of the passengers and the public who were in the airport." [TU]

So, what exactly are a person's rights in this sort of situation?

Well, like most things, it's complicated.

(there's more)

The dog who fell off a cliff at Thacher Park -- and lived

The dog in the photo above -- Shiba, a Shiba Inu puppy -- was rescued Sunday after it fell off a cliff at Thacher Park.

From the Albany County Sheriff's Office press release:

Apparently "Shiba", a six month old Shibainu puppy had run off of a cliff located in the Hales Cave area of Thacher Park. Shiba was being walked in the area by her owner, Samantha Cullum of East Greenbush, when she strayed away from her owner and ran off of the cliff. The Albany County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Team responded and repelled down the cliff to locate the canine. After an extensive search, Shiba was found hiding in a three foot deep crevice by members of the Search and Rescue Team. Shiba suffered what appeared to be a broken leg and was treated by Albany County Paramedics on the scene. Shiba was transported by her owner to the Latham Animal Hospital for emergency veterinary care. Albany County Sheriff's Patrol members, Albany County Paramedics, and maintenance staff from Thacher Park also assisted in the search.

Shiba's story about all this is totally going to trump the other dogs' stories about squirrels and tennis balls at the next dog park meetup.

Update: The dog's owner tells the TU she and the dog were far away from the cliffs when the dog took off -- and acknowledges she should have had the dog on a leash.

photo courtesy of Albany County Sheriff's Office