Baltimore Jewish Times

Their great-grandfathers each founded Baltimore companies, a publisher and a printer, and their families have built close ties working together since the 1950s to produce the venerable Baltimore Jewish Times. But Andrew Alter Buerger and Charles M. Roebuck III have been doing most of their talking in the last few years through lawyers — through bankruptcy filings, lawsuits both corporate and personal, through legal motions and appeals to the state's second-highest court. What had appeared to be a successful business relationship has become a "nasty, 50-year-old marriage," as Buerger put it. Things had gotten so bad between Buerger, publisher of the Jewish Times and Style magazine, and Roebuck, president of H.G. Roebuck & Son Inc., his former printer and now a key creditor, that a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge said from the bench last month that the case looks less like a bankruptcy than a divorce.

A federal judge on Thursday scolded both parties vying for control of the company that publishes the Baltimore Jewish Times, giving them 30 days to develop a plan to take the company out of bankruptcy - or else a trustee would be appointed to run the business. After a three-day hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Baltimore, Judge James F. Schneider rejected plans offered by Alter Communications Inc., which runs the Jewish Times and other publications, and by its former printer, H.G. Roebuck & Son, saying neither one was likely to save the weekly magazine.

Two major advertisers in the Baltimore Jewish Times told a bankruptcy court Wednesday that they might not continue to buy space in the weekly newspaper if its ownership changes. Judge James Schneider weighed their testimony in bankruptcy proceedings against Baltimore-based Alter Communications, which publishes the nearly 100-year-old Jewish Times as well as other magazines. Alter Communications CEO Andrew Alter Buerger, who is editor and publisher of the Jewish Times, has said he would not participate in the joint ownership plan proposed by its former printer.

A bankruptcy court judge could decide as early as this week if the Baltimore Jewish Times will remain solely in the hands of its publisher of 92 years or be pressed into a partnership with its former printer, which it blames for much of its financial trouble. With a circulation of 8,500 and a larger audience online, the publication remains widely read in Baltimore's Jewish community, which is watching the contested bankruptcy closely. Alter Communications, which publishes the Jewish Times and several other publications, is fighting to hang onto the company through bankruptcy protection.

A vote among creditors that could help decide the future of the Baltimore Jewish Times ends on Friday, concluding the latest chapter in a contentious bankruptcy proceeding for the nearly century-old, family-owned publisher. The result of the vote, which is to be tallied in coming weeks, will help guide a bankruptcy court judge, who later this month will decide whether Alter Communications, which has published the weekly newspaper since 1919, will remain family-owned and operated, or whether the firm will be turned over to its printer.

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.

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.

The Baltimore Sun is committed to providing fair and accurate coverage. Readers who have concerns or comments are encouraged to call us at 800-829-8000. Clarification: An article in Thursday's editions about ethical questions news media companies face when accepting money from entities they cover should have noted that Baltimore extended the financial break to Alter Communications Inc., the parent company of the Baltimore Jewish Times. Alter also owns Style and Chesapeake Life.

Clarification: An article in Thursday's editions about ethical questions news media companies face when accepting money from entities they cover should have noted that Baltimore extended the financial break to Alter Communications Inc., the parent company of the Baltimore Jewish Times. Alter also owns Style and Chesapeake Life. Baltimore officials extended a financial break on Wednesday to the struggling Baltimore Jewish Times, which like many media outlets has been hard hit by the national economic downturn.

The assistant principal at an Orthodox Jewish school in Northwest Baltimore has been indicted in the theft of more than $13,000 in school checks, which he is accused of depositing into his bank account, city prosecutors said. Rabbi Jay Kenneth Wagner, who worked at Yeshivat Rambam/Maimonides Academy of Baltimore at 6300 Park Heights Avenue until recently, was arrested and released Tuesday after posting a small cash bond, according to court records. The indictment was filed Sept. 10. Wagner, 32, of the 3400 block of Labyrinth Road in Northwest Baltimore has no previous arrests, according to Maryland's online court records.