SMITHFIELD Smithfield Foods Inc., struggling with soaring corn prices, today reported a 76 percent decline in profit for its second quarter.

Net income dropped to $4.2 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with $17.4 million, or 13 cents per share in the same quarter a year ago.

Sales rose 15 percent, from $2.75 billion to $3.15 billion in the quarter, which ended Oct. 26.

Harbor Group International announced that it sold a 22-story office building in Jacksonville, Fla., for $51.4 million. Harbor, a Norfolk-based private real estate investment firm, purchased the 350,000-square-foot Wachovia Tower in 2004 for $38.3 million. The building is 98 percent occupied, Harbor Group said in a release. The name of the buyer was not released.

Throughout Hampton Roads, an abundance of organizations and agencies offers help to those facing hard times amid the economic crisis.   STATE HELP Social services

NORFOLK Frequent flyers at Norfolk International Airport can move through security faster with the launch of express lanes, officials plan to announce today.

CHESAPEAKE A developer is finalizing plans for a 175-slip marina to be built in South Norfo lk along the Elizabeth River's Southern Branch. The marina is part of Belharbour Station at SoNo, a $200 million retail and residential development in a heavily industrial area near the Elizabeth River. Developers have plans there for 240 apartments and 340 condominiums, plus office and retail space.

Jobless rates in Norfolk, Portsmouth and Suffolk fell slightly in October while rates for other major cities in the region were unchanged from September, the Virginia Employment Commission reported Wednesday. Hampton Roads' unemployment rate for October remained at 4.3 percent.

VIRGINIA BEACH First it was a bailout for Wall Street, then Main Street, and now it's Broadway - well, at least this city's version of it. The City Council voted Tuesday night to give a $200,000 interest-free loan to the cash-strapped Virginia Musical Theatre, a nonprofit group that for 18 years has put on Broadway-scale productions in Virginia Beach. The loan is to be repaid over 10 years.

NORFOLK An Illinois company filed a federal lawsuit claiming Landmark Media Enterprises LLC is unlawfully infringing on its patent in how it operates an apartment rental Web site. The company is seeking millions in damages and a permanent injunction that, if successful, would shut down Landmark's apartment rental Web site, ForRent.com.

Helped by continued job growth this fall, Hampton Roads' unemployment rate was unchanged between September and October, even as rates climbed throughout much of the nation, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday.

If gift cards are on your holiday shopping list this year, the rocky retail landscape might make you wonder about the riskiness of such purchases.