Labor Shortages

With a nationwide farmworker shortage threatening to leave unharvested fruits and vegetables rotting in fields, the Bush administration has begun quietly rewriting federal regulations to eliminate barriers that restrict how foreign laborers can legally be brought into the country.

jayuya, puerto rico -- For 100 years, the Atienzas have grown coffee on an intensely green mountainside among the island's highest peaks. Their 340-acre plantation is one of the last strongholds in an industry that a century ago earned Puerto Rico a reputation, from Paris to Vatican City, for growing some of the best coffee in the world.

Sri Lankan nurses could help stem the Southland's nursing shortage by working in county health facilities, Dr. Bruce Chernof, head of the county Department of Health Services, suggested to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa during an official visit Friday. Rajapaksa also met with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to discuss education, trade and homeland security.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, whose aging electrical system left thousands of residents in the dark during last month's heat wave, is bracing for yet another looming crisis: an exodus of older skilled workers. Half of the DWP's 8,100 employees will be eligible to retire within a decade, many of them veteran employees in critical frontline jobs that require years of training.

So much for sweating out that first job after college. Like star athletes, engineering students Julie Arsenault and Emily Reasor are prized prospects for the energy industry, which is experiencing dizzying demand for engineers. Bustling oil field activity and retiring baby boomers, among other factors, have petroleum outfits large and small trying to hire thousands of engineers, and experts say the trend is expected to extend into the next decade as worldwide energy demand grows.

A potential brain drain as baby boomers leave the workforce has led at least one company to carve out a role linking aging scientists and engineers with companies in need of their talents. "When they retire they find themselves wanting to remain engaged," said Brad Lawson, chief executive of Indianapolis-based YourEncore. "We provide them with an outlet." As it turns out, a lot of employers wish to engage their services, typically for short-term projects.

Northwest Airlines Corp. said it canceled 8% of its flights Monday as disruptions linked to a pilot shortage extended into a fourth day. Northwest wouldn't disclose how many flights were affected, spokesman Roman Blahoski said. Airline data tracker FlightStats, which includes cargo service in its totals, said Northwest scrubbed 119 flights, or more than 8% of its schedule.

The overburdened court system in Riverside County will get a special strike team of judges over the next four months to help clear its mounting backlog of cases. California Chief Justice Ronald M. George announced Friday that he planned to use his constitutional authority -- stemming from his duty to "equalize the work of the courts" -- to assign a team of as many as 12 active and retired judges to hear hundreds of backlogged criminal cases in Riverside County.

Nicole Oswell was a straight-A student passionately interested since first grade in following in her mother's footsteps as a registered nurse. But she had to wait two years to get into Los Angeles Trade Tech's nursing program, she said, her frustration mounting as national nursing shortages worsened. Lizbeth Gutierrez got lucky. Her wait was only six months.

ADMITTEDLY, it feels like an odd time to be singing the praises of Big Oil. Last week, the driving season kicked off with gasoline prices hitting a Memorial Day record and profits gushing across the petroleum sector. Recently, the House of Representatives passed anti-gouging legislation to protect the public from "being ripped off" at the pump, in the words of one lawmaker. But for Southern California refiners, this summer promises to be marked by more than consumer outrage.