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News editor

Signatures are still being gathered for petitions to remove Newport District Supervisor Buzz Bailey and Hardy School Board member Herb DeGroft from office.

As of Saturday, the group circulating Bailey’s petition had 255 signatures, said Joe Puglisi, who is heading up the effort.

For the petition to be valid, it needs at least 238 signatures from registered voters living in the Newport District.

Puglisi said his group is aiming for a bit more than that just to have a cushion.

The group heading up the DeGroft petition has about half of their goal of 205 signatures, said Rosa Holmes-Turner.

They are also shooting for about 25-35 percent more signatures to make sure they have enough that are valid, she said.

Turner said the response to DeGroft’s petition has been good. Those who declined to sign the petition said they would like DeGroft to resign now rather than waiting until his term expires in December, Turner said.

DeGroft has withdrawn his candidacy for the School Board in November, but refuses to resign, as does Bailey, who has two years remaining in his term. Already, a Carrollton pastor has announced his plans to run for Bailey’s seat.

Two others have qualified as candidates for the Hardy District School Board seat. Puglisi’s group plans to meet again this Saturday to see where they are, he said.

Turner said they plan to present their petitions to Isle of Wight NAACP President Dottie Harris on June 24.

The petitions accuse Bailey and DeGroft of incompetence and misuse of their offices. If enough signatures are collected, the petitions must go to a circuit court judge for a decision.

The judge must then decide whether to remove an elected official for a number of reasons, including neglect of duty, misuse of office, incompetence, conviction of a misdemeanor and drug-related offenses or a “hate crime” conviction, if that interferes with the individual’s conduct in office, according to state code. ...(Subscribe!)

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News editor

One of Smithfield Foods’ largest investors said it could have gotten more money for the company if it was split up and sold in separate divisions.

Officials with Starboard Value LP, an investment advisor, sent a letter to Smithfield Foods Board of Directors Monday calling for the pork producer to consider a piece-by-piece sale.

Starboard Value LP owns about 5.7 percent of the outstanding common stock.

Foods announced in May that it had entered into a merger agreement with China-based Shuanghui for $7.1 billion. The sale is pending stockholder and regulatory approval.

According to the letter, Starboard said that the company was “significantly undervalued."

If sold separately, the company would be worth between $9 and $10.8 billion — or $44 to $55 a share, according to Starboard.

Starboard estimated that the hog production side would be worth $1.8 to $2.3 billion; the international division at $1.2 to $1.5 billion and the pork side bringing in the highest value at $6.2 to $7.9 billion.

The investors went on to say that there are “several likely strategic acquirors” for each of the divisions — hog production, international and pork.

The sale with Shuanghui gave stockholders the option of selling for $34 a share — up 31 percent from the close of the market May 28 — the last trading day before the sale was announced.

Once the sale with Shuanghui is completed, Foods will no longer be a publicly held company.

Starboard’s letter comes on the heels of a similar proposal from another large Foods stockholder — Continental Grain.

Continental Grain also suggested Foods be split into three parts, mainly because the hog production side of the operation was problematic due to high feed costs and ethanol production.

Foods stated that its hog production side provides access to a quality supply of pork, as well as balances volatility. If the hog farms were spun off, it would result in loss of control over quality and create more competition, according to a filing by Smithfield with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (Subscribe!)

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Staff writer

Isle of Wight Schools Superintendent Katrise Perera is now in the running for two additional jobs on top of her candidacy for school superintendent in St. Lucie County, Fla.

In a phone interview with TCPalm.com, the web component of a newspaper in St. Lucie, Perera said she has applied to two others job but St. Lucie is her top choice.

A request to Isle of Wight County schools for response was not returned by press time.

She remains committed to the superintendent search in St. Lucie despite its School Board seeking additional candidates, according to TCPalm.com reporter Colleen Wixon.

The St. Lucie School Board met Monday morning to discuss the new superintendent selection but did not make a final decision.

Instead, it decided to direct consultant Jim Huge to seek more candidates.

After the announcement, Mark Rendell, St. Lucie’s current assistant superintendent, withdrew from the running.

Also on Monday, Huge announced finalist Scott Bailey withdrew his bid because of health reasons, according to TCPalm.com.

The other candidate, Darci Mohr, is currently the assistant superintendent of human resources in a K-12 public school system with 29,000 students in Boulder, Colo.

Wixon confirmed that Perera and Mohr still want to be considered for the job despite the widening candidate pool.

Some Board members favored seeking other candidates while others found the remaining finalists viable, reported Wixon.

Until the Board decides, an interim superintendent will be named. (Subscribe!)

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Staff writer

With a year of the iPad program under its belt, the Isle of Wight County school division is ready to face the “brutal facts,” said assistant superintendent Laura Abel.

School staff is undertaking a “blame-free autopsy” of the Isle-21 iPad initiative, which gave each high school student his own iPad this past year, said Abel, who referenced a book called “Good to Great” by Jim Collins as the basis for her approach.

Abel hopes to compile feedback from a variety of sources and present it to the School Board at its July 16 meeting.

“This is not about who did what, but rather where we go from here,” she said. So far, staff has received 80 completed surveys, which they randomly sourced from parents of highschoolers, and is actively seeking more parent feedback through a survey online.

This week, staff will hold focus groups with parents, said Abel.

Focus groups of teachers and students have already met.

Both high schools shared this information with parents via the Alert Now system, school email groups and iPad apps, said Bowers.

The schools submitted 20 Windsor High and 30 Smithfield High parents’ names to represent all grade levels in the focus groups, said Bowers.

 The online survey is anonymous but asks parents to indicate which school their child attended to gauge whether there is a difference in experience from Windsor to Smithfield high schools. ...(Subscribe!)

A slice of Americana will be told in music Friday when folk musician Bob Zentz performs on the Gazebo Stage in front of The Smithfield Times. The concert begins at 8 p.m.

Zentz, an accomplished folk musician, plays dozens of instruments and brings a variety of them to each concert he performs. He has a repertoire of more than 2,000 songs, including many with Virginia and Chesapeake Bay origins. His albums focus on traditional folk, Celtic and maritime music, and he has traveled as far as Australia spreading America's story in song.

The Summer Concert Series is sponsored by The Smithfield Times and the Isle of Wight Arts League. The lawn chair concerts are free to the public.

Following is the schedule for the remainder of the year:

June 28: The Rhondells

July 5: Peninsula Concert Band

July 21: Bobby Blackhat Band

July 19: Sisters Tellado

July 26: Higher Ground

Aug. 2: Histerically Correct Pirate Show

Aug. 9: Smithfield Little Theatre

Aug. 16: Navy Four Star Edition

Aug. 23: Hard Knox

Aug. 30: Fort Lee Army Band