Perhaps the most coveted job among prisoners at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Otay Mesa is a spot working in the state prison's shoe factory.

The factory provides more than casual shoes for the correctional system's inmates, officials say.

It's the highest-paying job at Donovan, and factory workers can earn up to 95 cents per hour, as well as a certificate for a trade that may help them find work when they rejoin society...

...Another inmate in the Richard J. Donovan State Correctional Facility was also found dead in the prison on Monday, according to the Sheriff’s Homicide unit.

Prison guards were conducting an inmate movement when they found the man lying unconscious. They later pronounced him dead of unknown causes, according to the Sheriff's department.

The homicide unit is also investigating this death...

A guard at Donovan State Prison suffered an apparently non-life-threatening bullet wound to the head Tuesday, apparently due to a ricochet from a law enforcement shooting range on the grounds of the penitentiary.

The gunshot injury at the Otay Mesa lockup was reported about 8:15 a.m., sheriff's Lt. Jim Walker said.

Officials at the Alta Road prison "thought the round came from their shooting range," according to Walker...

A convict serving a life term at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility attacked a guard with a makeshift knife Tuesday, leaving him with non-lethal wounds and prompting a lockdown at the prison.

The inmate assaulted the officer with an altered disposable razor as the victim was beginning his shift and approaching his work area about 8 a.m., said Lt. Michael Stout, a spokesman for the Otay Mesa-area state penitentiary.

"The officer was able to defend himself, preventing additional injuries, until responding staff arrived to gain control of the inmate," Stout said…

An inmate who escaped from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility over the weekend was picked up by San Diego police on Monday and returned to prison, authorities said.

Ryan McKnight, 32, walked away from the prison's Minimum Support Facility on Friday night. Prisoners who are housed there are considered low-risk and often participate in work furlough programs, said Kim Siebel, a state Department of Corrections spokeswoman…

Prison overcrowding is forcing the state corrections department to take a new look at rehabilitation of inmates. Now, a pilot program in Otay Mesa offers inmates a chance to get out of prison, and never go back.

Forty-year-old Brian Williams is learning how to repair computer and cable television networks while serving a 16-month sentence at Donovan State Prison in Otay Mesa.

"I could have come to prison and learned to become a better criminal, or through this program learn a skill to be gainfully employed with a new career," Williams said…