Agora

If restored 19th-century mansions appeal to you, you'd enjoy working at Agora, where 408 employees occupy nine such beauties in Baltimore's historic Mount Vernon district. But architectural aesthetics alone don't explain the appeal of Agora, a holding company for publishers of consumer newsletters and special-interest books established in 1979. Employees also appreciate the benefits of a workplace with a casual atmosphere, "where self-directed individuals focus on the things they actually enjoy doing," CEO Myles Norin said.

If restored 19th-century mansions appeal to you, you'd enjoy working at Agora, where 408 employees occupy nine such beauties in Baltimore's historic Mount Vernon district. But architectural aesthetics alone don't explain the appeal of Agora, a holding company for publishers of consumer newsletters and special-interest books established in 1979. Employees also appreciate the benefits of a workplace with a casual atmosphere, "where self-directed individuals focus on the things they actually enjoy doing," CEO Myles Norin said.

Each of the four buildings restored by Agora Inc. has its own character and its own storiesA. The former Marburg Mansion, 14 W. Mount Vernon Place: Designed by Niernsee and Neilson and built in 1847. Named for Theodore Marburg, former U.S. ambassador to Belgium. Rebuilt in 1895, with Baldwin and Pennington as the architect. Historians believe Marburg and President Woodrow Wilson drew up portions of the Charter of the League of Nations in the library. Now houses Agora's executive offices.B.

A parade of American presidents, from Eisenhower on, all warning of the inherent peril of runaway spending. A Saturday Night Live skit. A graphic presenting America's budgetary history as a roller-coaster ride of epic proportions. An out-of-control screed by an analyst losing it in front of a national TV audience. I.O.U.S.A., a documentary being screened three times at this weekend's 10th annual Maryland Film Festival, uses every tool available to drum home its message that deficit spending is bad, that a country built on it is heading for nowhere but trouble.

Baltimore publishing company Agora Inc. isn't in the business of subtlety. The 25-year-old firm markets its 50 financial, travel and health newsletters with bombastic pitches that promise subscribers advice that will lead to riches and better living, or your money back. Guaranteed. It's a hard sell designed to grab attention in a market crowded with big-name market gurus and forecasters, and it works. Agora's success has paid for founder and President William Bonner's chateau in France, and placed him and a few partners among the top five newsletter publishers in the United States.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Agora Inc., a Baltimore financial information publisher, with defrauding readers of its Internet newsletters by selling them false insider information for $1,000. The civil complaint, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, alleges that Agora Inc.'s newsletters "contain nothing more than baseless speculation and outright lies, fabricated to induce investors to pay Agora (or its subsidiaries) for subscriptions or purported inside information."

THE CASE of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission vs. Pirate Investor LLC illuminates many important things, including a government attack on free speech, why frisky investors buy dumb stocks and how come a Maryland boy owns a French chateau. It also shows why your e-mail in-box is crammed with garbage from people you don't know who don't sign their real names: Spam pays. Last year Agora Inc., a Baltimore newsletter company, bombarded thousands with a dubious and shameless e-mail come-on for stock market riches.

CLARIFICATION A photo caption in Monday's Maryland section referred to the Athenian Agora Greek Festival at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation as "the biggest Greek festival in the city." It turns out that that superlative is contested, and adjudicating the matter is beyond our scope.

A parade of American presidents, from Eisenhower on, all warning of the inherent peril of runaway spending. A Saturday Night Live skit. A graphic presenting America's budgetary history as a roller-coaster ride of epic proportions. An out-of-control screed by an analyst losing it in front of a national TV audience. I.O.U.S.A., a documentary being screened three times at this weekend's 10th annual Maryland Film Festival, uses every tool available to drum home its message that deficit spending is bad, that a country built on it is heading for nowhere but trouble.

An ambitious plan to convert Baltimore's historic Winans mansion to a conference facility for the University of Baltimore has fallen through. The 46-room mansion at 1217 St. Paul St. will now be restored by its current owner, Agora Inc., to accommodate its growing workforce. The 1882 landmark is the only residence in Baltimore designed from start to finish by the noted architect Stanford White, of McKim, Mead & White, and was featured in a recent symposium on Baltimore's 19th-century art and architecture.

CLARIFICATION A photo caption in Monday's Maryland section referred to the Athenian Agora Greek Festival at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation as "the biggest Greek festival in the city." It turns out that that superlative is contested, and adjudicating the matter is beyond our scope.

A clergyman I know likes to tell the story about the people who only attend church services when it snows. Call it the power of heavy weather; I observe a version of the same draw in my neighborhood. Over the summer, when the Johns Hopkins students are scarce, the locals come out of self-imposed hiding and enjoy the restaurants and bars they avoid when the backpack and cell phone crowd dominates. I subscribe to this behavior. This is the time of the year when the summer's tourists have vanished, and we can take over Baltimore again.

An ambitious plan to convert Baltimore's historic Winans mansion to a conference facility for the University of Baltimore has fallen through. The 46-room mansion at 1217 St. Paul St. will now be restored by its current owner, Agora Inc., to accommodate its growing workforce. The 1882 landmark is the only residence in Baltimore designed from start to finish by the noted architect Stanford White, of McKim, Mead & White, and was featured in a recent symposium on Baltimore's 19th-century art and architecture.

THE CASE of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission vs. Pirate Investor LLC illuminates many important things, including a government attack on free speech, why frisky investors buy dumb stocks and how come a Maryland boy owns a French chateau. It also shows why your e-mail in-box is crammed with garbage from people you don't know who don't sign their real names: Spam pays. Last year Agora Inc., a Baltimore newsletter company, bombarded thousands with a dubious and shameless e-mail come-on for stock market riches.

Baltimore publishing company Agora Inc. isn't in the business of subtlety. The 25-year-old firm markets its 50 financial, travel and health newsletters with bombastic pitches that promise subscribers advice that will lead to riches and better living, or your money back. Guaranteed. It's a hard sell designed to grab attention in a market crowded with big-name market gurus and forecasters, and it works. Agora's success has paid for founder and President William Bonner's chateau in France, and placed him and a few partners among the top five newsletter publishers in the United States.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Agora Inc., a Baltimore financial information publisher, with defrauding readers of its Internet newsletters by selling them false insider information for $1,000. The civil complaint, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, alleges that Agora Inc.'s newsletters "contain nothing more than baseless speculation and outright lies, fabricated to induce investors to pay Agora (or its subsidiaries) for subscriptions or purported inside information."

What's this? An espresso bar in the latest building recycled by the Agora publishing company? And could it be -- exposed beams in the ceiling and bare bricks on the walls? Is this the same Agora that has faithfully restored five Victorian gems in Baltimore's Mount Vernon historic district? For years, Agora's owners have forged a reputation as urban innovators by zigging when everyone else zagged. While other companies moved from old buildings to new high-rises downtown or trendy locations along the waterfront, Agora went in the other direction.

Two students from St. Alphonsus-Basilica Elementary School will receive scholarships from one of their neighbors, the Agora Publishing Co., which Friday kicked off its first educational partnership with the Saratoga Street school.The company will pay the full tuition of a boy and a girl who maintain a B average and need financial help to attend the $2,185-a-year school. The largely commuter school has 225 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.The Mount Vernon-based publisher also will stock the school library with the children's books it publishes and sponsor pizza parties for honor students.

One of Baltimore finest residences, the former home of railroad tycoon Ross R. Winans, would be transformed to an alumni center and conference facility for the University of Baltimore if the current owner can come to terms with the university and a prospective donor. Agora Inc., a publishing company that owns the former Winans mansion at 1217 St. Paul St., is negotiating with the donor's representatives to work out details of the transaction, which would involve a complete restoration of the 46-room mansion and its grounds before the sale is final.

July 9 Ashton Development Group Inc., 1795 Beachfield Road, Annapolis, filed under Chapter 7. Principal: Melinda B. Zanecki, president. Assets: $770,000; liabilities: $81,000. Beth's Bridal Boutique, 1204C Agora Drive, Bel Air, filed under Chapter 7. Principal: Beth Ann Trageser, president. Assets: $47,853.70; liabilities: $201,855.30 July 11 Thomas DeFazio Jr., 139 E. Ostend St., Baltimore, an events ticket reseller, petitioned for an adjustment of debts under Chapter 13. Assets: $20,336; liabilities: $72,159 Abbreviations a.k.a.