NY: Land swap, inmate work considered

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Voters across New York are deciding constitutional issues.

The first ballot proposition Tuesday is whether to approve a minor land swap in a remote northwestern corner of the Adirondacks.

The other asks whether inmates should do volunteer work for nonprofit groups.

In return for six acres that National Grid is already using for a new 46-kilovolt power line along Route 56 in the town of Colton, the state will get 43 acres of the utility's land, also in St. Lawrence County.

It's a deal municipal officials, environmentalists and businesses support.

The other constitutional amendment would authorize the Legislature to pass bills letting state and local inmates work for nonprofit organizations operated for religious, charitable or educational purposes.