Baltimore Jewish Times

The editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times is leaving at the end of June to take the helm of a Washington paper. Phil Jacobs, who accepted a job as editor of Washington Jewish Week, spent nearly 30 years working for the Jewish Times and a sister publication. He joined the Jewish Times in 1982, moved to Michigan in 1990 to edit the Detroit Jewish News and returned to Baltimore in 1997 to take over as editor, the company said. Jacobs is best known for uncovering multiple instances of sexual abuse by rabbis, an emotionally wrenching effort detailed in the new documentary "Standing Silent.

Joe Sugarman has been promoted from senior editor to editor-in-chief at Baltimore's Style magazine. He succeeds Brian Lawrence who was fired in September after 10 years in that job. "Yes, the rumors are true," Sugarman wrote in an email response seeking confirmation of his appointment. "The November food issue will be my first as editor-in-chief at Style. That issue comes out early next week, with a great cover photo of Hilary Phelps looking like she just stepped out of the set of 'Mad Men.'" Sugarman added that he and his team will "likely roll out some changes to the magazine by the second quarter of 2013, including a redesign by the new creative director, Kim Van Dyke.

The creditors and the publisher of the Baltimore Jewish Times met behind closed doors Friday with a bankruptcy judge in an attempt to iron out a new ownership plan, and emerged after more than three hours with a commitment to return Monday for more negotiations. Alter Communications Inc., the publisher of the Times and Style magazine, has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since April 2010, after losing a legal battle with its former publisher, H.G. Roebuck & Son Inc. of White Marsh.

Brian Lawrence confirmed that he has been fired as editor-in-chief at Baltimore's STYLE magazine after 10 years in that job. His relationship with the publication actually extended back 20 years, since he served as creative director for Blue Sky Design for a decade while Style was one of its clients. In that capacity, he was essentially the creative director of the magazine before he was named editor. Lawrence declined comment on his departure from the magazine last week. But he said he hoped to stay in the Baltimore-Washington area and was looking for a new position.

All the assets of the publisher of the Baltimore Jewish Times, which has operated under bankruptcy protection for nearly two years, will be auctioned April 2 at attorney offices in downtown Baltimore, according to a court order filed Friday. A federal bankruptcy court judge last week appointed a United States Trustee to run Alter Communications Inc., as the company's finances worsened. The family-run company has published the Times for nearly a century, and also publishes Style magazine.

The publisher of the Baltimore Jewish Times was expected to file a request Monday for an emergency cash infusion to continue to pay operating expenses, the latest step in the company's extended bankruptcy proceedings. At a hearing at U.S. District Court in Baltimore, Judge Nancy Alquist said Alter Communications was making the motion at a point when "the infusion of cash is deemed to be critical. " Alter, which has about 40 employees, has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since April 2010 and has fought with its top creditor, H.G. Roebuck & Son Inc., for control of the company.

The new face in the office of the publisher of the Baltimore Jewish Times and Style Magazine is Zvi Guttman, a man in a black yarmulke, white shirt, dark tie and black suspenders who settled into the conference room Monday, opened his laptop and began the work of a bankruptcy trustee: selling the business and searching for assets to pay creditors. "The trustee becomes the owner, the board of directors, the officers. … Legally I've replaced all those," said Guttman, who worked with the door shut, sitting at a long table surrounded by empty chairs, with nothing in front of him but his computer, a phone and an open spiral notebook.

The publisher of the Baltimore Jewish Times, a weekly newspaper in the city since 1919, filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday and blamed its financial woes on losing a legal fight over breaking a contract with its printer. Alter Communications, which also publishes Style and Chesapeake Life magazines, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. The filing will not affect the company's day-to-day operations for employees, readers and advertisers, the company said, and the Jewish Times and the magazines will continue to be published.

When Andrew A. Buerger stepped in to fill his father's shoes as publisher of the Baltimore Jewish Times, he knew he wanted to put his own stamp on the family business. "My father's vision, and it was very successful, was to have Jewish publications all over North America," said Buerger, whose father, Charles A. Buerger, died in 1996. But the younger Buerger wasn't interested in dividing his attention between Vancouver, Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Detroit and Atlanta, where the Jewish newspapers were based.

The Catholic Review, the august weekly newspaper of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, is undergoing a journalistic reformation.The newspaper, which since its founding in 1913 has been printed as a traditional, full-size broadsheet, will be converted next week to a magazine-like tabloid format.Editor Daniel L. Medinger said the changes have been contemplated over the last five years by the board of directors of the Cathedral Foundation, which publishes the Catholic Review, Maryland's largest paid weekly newspaper, with a circulation of 68,000.

The Catholic Review, which has chronicled Catholic life in Baltimore in its weekly publication for nearly two centuries, has cut back to biweekly issues. The decision came after months of strategic planning and improvements to the publication's Web pages and social media sites, said Chris Gunty, its editor and associate publisher. The change is a move to preserve the paper and tailor it to the 21st-century reader, he said. "We are not cutting back," he said. "We are enhancing and adding to our content.

The prospective new owners of the Baltimore Jewish Times took over Washington Jewish Week nearly two years ago and made an array of changes to the publication, which had just turned 80 years old. They redesigned the tabloid, revamped the website and launched an email newsletter. It's not yet clear if they contemplate similar changes to the Jewish Times, a weekly that has come out every Friday for 93 years. Craig Burke, the publisher of Washington Jewish Week, said he cannot discuss specific plans until he learns more about the Baltimore company, Alter Communications Inc., which also publishes Style magazine.

ON THE SITE... Baltimore Jewish Times owner sold at bankruptcy : Washington Jewish Week bought Alter Communications, which has owned the weekly Jewish Times magazine for 93 years, for $1.26 million. Maryland's Mega Millions winner remains unknown : Media were staking out the Maryland Lottery headquarters Monday morning awaiting the person who bought a winning ticket in Baltimore County, but lottery officials said they don't expect anyone to show yet. Three shot in city on Sunday : Police are investigating the incidents, one of them fatal, while police also shot and killed a man during a struggle in Reservoir Hill on Saturday.  March 2012 ranks as third-warmest on record : The average daily low in Baltimore last month nearly matched the average temperature for the month as a whole.

The company owned by the family that has published the Baltimore Jewish Times for 93 years was sold at bankruptcy auction Monday morning for $1.26 million to the owners of the Washington Jewish Week, who are promising to keep the local focus of the weekly magazine. Louis Mayberg, one of the principals of Route 95 Publications, LLC, said the paper will continue to have "Baltimore-based reporters covering Baltimore-based issues…I hope we'll get the support from the Baltimore Jewish Community.

A key creditor in the bankruptcy of the Baltimore Jewish Times and Style Magazine publisher has become the third bidder for the firm, raising the prospect of new ownership that the current chief executive officer said would be "a real tragic end to this company. " H.G. Roebuck & Son Inc., the company's former printer, submitted its initial bid of $450,000 hours before the 5 p.m. deadline on Thursday, said Zvi Guttman, the trustee appointed this month by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to sell the assets of Alter Communications Inc. Starting bids of $440,000 were entered earlier by Route 95 Publications LLC, run by the same group that publishes Washington Jewish Week; and Baltimore Community Publishing LLC, an investor group led by Scott Rifkin, an Owings Mills physician and health care entrepreneur.

Creditors have filed two objections to the procedures proposed for the sale of Alter Communications Inc., the bankrupt publisher of the Baltimore Jewish Times and Style Magazine. On Wednesday, H.G. Roebuck & Son Inc., a printing company owed money by the publishing house, said that the plan to auction Alter's assets as a single entity will "chill" bids. Instead, Roebuck argues, the company's parts should be offered separately. Lauren Buerger, a stockholder in Alter who is also owed money by the company, filed an objection Thursday that said the proposed auction date is too soon.

An article in Sunday's Business section incorrectly identified Ronnie Buerger. She is the mother of Baltimore Jewish Times Publisher Andrew Buerger.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 9/30/97