Full Post Style

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) – The Simplot Games are the pinnacle athletic event in Pocatello every year, with athletes coming from around the world to compete. The athletes train for months for their several moments racing under the lights in the ICCU Dome. For Jackson Laird, an unexpected turn of events led to his first race of the games becoming the talk of the tournament.

Laird is a senior from Weiser, Idaho and has enjoyed every second of his first Simplot Games. He came to compete in the 60 meter dash, but on Thursday evening, he was in for a surprise.

“I forgot that Simplot rules has a rule against certain spikes that aren’t allowed on the track, and I didn’t take mine out,” said Laird. “So the ref called me aside, told me I couldn’t run unless I had my flats, and my flats were across the arena, so I knew I wouldn’t make it.”

Laird didn’t have time to run across the arena for his other shoes, so he was forced to make a devastating decision: forfeit his event or run barefoot. He said the decision was easy, because as soon as the ref suggested he run shoeless, he knew he had to try.

“I honestly expected to get splinters and stuff, but it wasn’t that bad actually. It felt pretty good,” Laird said. Not only did he walk away with his feet in tact, but he won his race and set a new personal record. After running consistent races at over 7.3 seconds, Laird finished with a 7.19 in his barefoot blitz. He said he couldn’t believe it when he looked up and saw the time.

“I couldn’t believe it, it was a really big PR for me so I was really happy about that,” he said.

The Simplot Games journey doesn’t end here for Laird. On Saturday, he’ll compete in the boys 60 meter dash finals race. Following his unexpected barefoot PR, Laird said he’s anxious to run in spiked shoes again.

“Honestly, I’m a little worried for tomorrow to see if hopefully I can beat my time in spikes, because if not, it’s a little embarrassing,” said Laird. He will run the final race with the spikes in his shoes, but not the needle spikes, so that he doesn’t get disqualified by the Simplot Games.

The standout from Weiser High School is looking forward to his race, since he proved he can run even faster with no shoes.

“Honestly, I’m looking for another PR because I mean if I can run barefoot and run a time like that, I’m anxious to see what I can run with spikes,” he said.

Laird hopes to continue his track career after he graduates high school. The race on Saturday at the ICCU Dome will begin at 12:30pm.

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) – Idaho industry leaders are speaking out about the importance of undocumented immigrants to the state’s labor force and economy.

“We have a significant dependance on a workforce that’s here without status. That’s not unique to Idaho industries,” said Rick Naerebout, Idaho Dairymen’s Association CEO.

A new landmark study is highlighting the importance of foreign-born labor to Idaho’s agricultural, hospitality, dining and construction industries.

“You look at agriculture, construction, hospitality – there’s a certain portion of that workforce that’s here without status, and we really need to create visa programs for these individuals to come into country, and be able to fill these jobs and have a system that’s functional,” Naerebout said.

Pew Research Center estimates approximately 40,000 undocumented immigrants live in Idaho.

Idaho’s dairy sector, ranked third in the nation for milk and cheese production, is particularly vulnerable, as up to 90 percent of workers in the industry are foreign-born.

“There’s been an ongoing discussion and dialogue about labor, the lack there of labor in the greater economy and specifically in the ag economy,” Idaho Farm Bureau Federation CEO Zak Miller. “So we commissioned a study to just find out what it would look like if a portion of the undocumented workers that are in the state of Idaho were removed, and what the downstream effects would be on the economy of Idaho.”

If 28,725 undocumented individuals were removed from Idaho, the state would lose $5.1 billion in gross state product and $397.8 million in tax revenue – similar to the economic losses from the Great Recession in 2007 to 2009, the study states.

“In addition to removing over 25,000 jobs of individuals that are here without status, you would cause an additional 27,000 jobs to be lost, so a total of about 55,000 jobs would be lost in the state of Idaho,” Naerebout said.

One in five jobs in Idaho are in agriculture, construction, hospitality and dining, and those jobs directly support 35% of all jobs in the state, according to the study.

“We’re not afraid of the data because we believe when you have data, pragmatic and logical people can come up with real solutions,” Miller said. “Our real solution that we find from the data is that the system needs to be fixed, it needs to be updated, and everyone should have access to a legal workforce.”

We’ll continue to follow the impact of immigrants on Idaho’s economy in the weeks to come.