Failure of immigration bill will hurt Colo., some employers say

DENVER (AP) - Colorado farmers, builders and others squeezed by a labor shortage will be pinched even more by the death of President Bush's immigration proposal in the Senate, business leaders said Thursday.

"Our labor supply is going to continue to diminish," said Mike Gilsdorf, leader of Colorado Employers for Immigration Reform. "I can see a lot of overtime expenses," he said, describing the shortage as "horrific."

New state immigration laws that some business owners blame for frightening off legal immigrant workers have prompted farmers to shift to less labor-intensive crops that can be mechanically harvested, state Agriculture Commissioner John Stulp said. Because some of those crops, like corn, are less valuable, Colorado's agricultural output is expected to drop this year, Stulp said.

"There are still producers taking a risk and putting in crops, hoping to get laborers in time for the late summer, fall harvest," Stulp.

He and Gilsdorf, chief executive officer of Arapahoe Acres Nursery in suburban Littleton, spoke at a forum of the Colorado Employers for Immigration Reform.

Gilsdorf said his business is turning down work and paying employees 10 hours of overtime a week because he can't find enough help.

Gilsdorf said the labor shortage eventually will affect his ability to buy phones, computers, trucks and items from suppliers.

"This doesn't just affect people who want to plant trees. It affects everybody's job in Colorado," he said.

Colorado stumbled when it passed laws giving it a reputation as a state tough on illegal immigration, Stulp said after the forum. One law requires employers to verify whether their workers are legal.

Now even some legal immigrant workers are staying away, perhaps for fear they will be harassed or because they have undocumented relatives, Stulp said.

Stulp's office generally has sought a system that U.S. producers can rely on for workers and that workers can rely on for moving between their home countries and the U.S. legally.

Census data show foreign-born workers filled almost 27 percent of jobs in agriculture, 25 percent of cleaning and maintenance jobs, and 21 percent of construction trade jobs in 2000.

Immigrants held 267,576 jobs, according to 2000 data, or far more than the 89,000 Coloradans seeking work in May, suggesting that the unemployed would not be able to pick up the slack if immigrant labor were not available, private economist Tucker Hart Adams said.

COMING IN TOMORROW'S GAZETTE

Peter Husak, president of Southern Colorado OfficeScapes,was named Small Business Person of the Year at an

awards luncheon hosted by the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce. OfficeScapes is the largest

full-service commercial furniture company along the Front Range.

Five hundred hungry goats will chow down on noxious weeds at a local park next week, and the public is invited to

watch. The goats start munching at Bear Creek Regional Park East Sunday at 1:30 p.m. They’ll devour weeds inside

the 19-acre Bear Creek Garden Association community garden for 10 days.

Fountain-Fort Carson School District 8’s longtime finance chief has been chosen as the new superintendent. Cheryl Walker

is the lone finalist to replace Dwight Jones, who left the post to become the new Colorado Education Commissioner.

Dancers lined up at the Promenade Shops at Biargate to try out for “Dancing with the Tesh,” a national dance

competition hosted by new age pianist and former "Entertainment Tonight" co-host John Tesh.

The publisher of a cookbook called "Colorado Edible Plant Recipes" leads The Gazette on a lunch hike, gathering

greens and flowers for a salad - just add ranch dressing. Find out more about how Chris Frederick lives off the land in Out There.

The FAC Modern unveils an exhibit Saturday about Mexican painter Frida Kahlo through the eyes of groundbreaking

commercial photographer Nickolas Muray, who was also one of her paramours.

A $200,000 grant will allow The Classical Academy to focus more on character education. With the grant from the

Daniels Fund, the Academy School District 20 charter school will hire a director of character development, create an

outreach program and expand the school’s annual character conference.

HAPPENING TONIGHT

PAINT THE TOWN BLUE SUMMER CONCERT SERIES: Hosted by the Pikes Peak Blues Community, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Bancroft Park, 2408 W. Colorado Ave., free.

CREATE INSECT-FREE OUTDOORS: Free clinic, 7 p.m., local Home Depot stores; www.homedepotclinics.com.

READING WITH KATHRYN EASTBURN: 7:30 p.m., Colorado College, Gates Common Room, third floor of Palmer Hall, 1025 N. Cascade Ave., free.

SPORTS TONIGHT

The Colorado Springs Sky Sox entertain rival Salt Lake at 7 on 1460 AM. The Colorado Rockies are at Houston at 6 on FSN (850 AM). The NBA draft (the Nuggets have no picks unless they make a trade) is on ESPN at 5:30. The Colorado Rapids are at D.C. United at 5 on ESPN2 (1150 AM).

TELEVISION TONIGHT

ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER?: A game show testing how much contestants have forgotten since grade school in such subjects as math, geography and social studies. 7:00 p.m (FOX)

THE OFFICE: Three episodes of the off-beat comdey tonight. While Dwight helps Michael buy a condo, Jim runs the games of the office olympiad, time-killing contests played with office supplies. Michael tries to motivate his office crew by taking them on a harbor cruise. But there isn't any love on the boat. 7:30-9:00 p.m. (NBC)

BURN NOTICE: Jeffrey Donovan is no longer Touching Evil but he is getting burned as former spy Michael Westen in this USA original series. Mysteriously kicked out of the agency, Westen finds himself suddenly cut off from his contacts and his credit cards. To make matters worse, he is stuck in his hometown, Miami, where his mother (Sharon Gless) hounds him with family issues. 8 p.m. (USA)