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DETROIT -- Struggling Ford Motor Co., which posted a record $12.7 billion loss in 2006, agreed to pay its new CEO, Alan R. Mulally, more than $28 million to help rescue the 103-year-old automaker, according to a filing yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mulally, a former Boeing Co. executive who was the keynote speaker at the New York auto show this week, publicly accepted the Ford job in September. While his annual salary is set at $2 million, his compensation package for last year included $666,667 in salary for the final quarter of the year, as well as a host of other add-ons.

NEW YORK -- Battered by legal and financial troubles, Vonage Holdings Corp. has slipped from its spot as the largest provider of Internet-based phone service, overtaken by cable firm Comcast Corp. Reporting second-quarter financial results yesterday, Vonage said it had slowed financial losses by cutting marketing expenses, but that also meant fewer new subscribers. Vonage also said it had made progress with technology changes meant to sidestep a court ruling that it violated patents held by Verizon Communications Inc., of New York Vonage, based in Holmdel, N.J., gained 57,000 customers for a total of 2.45 million in the three months ending June 30. In that period, Comcast surpassed the 3 million mark by adding 671,000 subscribers for its digital phone service.

The proposal to take Educate Inc. private in a management-led buyout appears to be on track with shareholders expected to meet on or about June 12 to vote on the transaction, according to financial documents filed yesterday. The Baltimore company best known for its Sylvan tutoring centers also announced what likely will be its last quarterly earnings report as a public company. Net income declined 29 percent to $2.4 million, or 5 cents per share, in the three months that ended March 31, compared with $3.3 million, or 8 cents per share, in the year-ago first quarter.

Pinched between her supporters' demands for a large increase in school funding and debts left by the last administration, Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens repeated yesterday her pledge not to raise taxes.Her determination to keep this campaign promise, however, is threatening to collide with the centerpiece of her election platform: that she would increase the county's financial support for the public schools.Six weeks into office, Owens the fiscal conservative is looking into the mirror and seeing her worst enemy: Owens, the liberal hero of the teachers union.

It's easy to think that the NFL is awash in money.After all, the Dallas Cowboys have given contract extensions of $85.5 million to Troy Aikman and $51.5 million to Deion Sanders, and the Arizona Cardinals have handed Jake Plummer a $15 million signing bonus.And the league is heading into the second year of a record $17.6 billion television contract that increased each team's TV revenue from $40.8 million in 1997 to $59.8 million last year."People think we have a bottomless barrel of money," said Mike Brown, owner of the Cincinnati Bengals.

T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. held bonuses flat for its top three executives last year, paying them $7.61 million, despite a record year for the company.George A. Roche, chairman and president, and Vice Chairmen James S. Riepe and M. David Testa each received a bonus of $2.25 million in addition to salaries of $287,500.For each of the three, total 1998 compensation was $2.54 million, up $12,500 from what they were paid in 1997, according to a proxy statement filed yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Human Genome Sciences Inc. reported yesterday a net loss of $2.2 million, or 10 cents per share, on revenue of $14.8 million for its second quarter, which ended June 30.By comparison, the Rockville-based gene sequencer and developer of genomics-derived medicines had net earnings of $1.2 million, or 5 cents a share, on revenue of $13.9 million in the corresponding period a year earlier.In the first half of the year, the company said, its net loss increased to $14.5 million, or 63 cents a share, on revenue of $16.2 million.

With most of the bills now settled, the final price tag for the Ravens' new stadium appears to be $229 million -- well in excess of the $200 million pre-design projections and even the $223 million estimates made last summer.Bruce Hoffman, executive director of the Maryland Stadium Authority, attributed the higher costs to a robust economy, which drove up construction costs. Testifying yesterday before the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee in Annapolis, he said no additional state appropriations will be required despite the overrun.

As People celebrates its 25th anniversary, the weekly that wrote the book on personality journalism is more popular and profitable than ever, with a circulation of 3.6 million and another estimated nine pass-along readers for every issue sold.People leads the industry with annual ad revenues of nearly $627 million.Here are People's 10 best-selling newsstand covers:1. "Good-bye Diana," Sept. 22, 1997: 2.992 million sales2. "John Lennon, 1940- 1980: A Tribute," Dec. 22, 1980: 2.644 million3.

1970: Marvin Mandel is elected governor1970: 3.9 million live in Maryland1971: William Donald Schaefer is elected mayor

Hundreds of families across Maryland get relief for their food budgets - not manna from heaven, but discount grocery boxes from Angel Food Ministries. The Georgia-based organization negotiates with national vendors to get bargain prices on meat, eggs, dairy products, frozen vegetables and other staples. Each month, it designs $30 boxes that could feed a family of four for a week. People place orders online or in person and pick them up several weeks later at local host sites - mostly churches.

Barack Obama received a minor fundraising bump after he named Joe Biden as his running mate but raked in huge sums after Republican rival John McCain named Sarah Palin as his vice presidential nominee. Obama raised $66 million in August, to McCain's $47 million. Obama's receipts included $22 million in contributions of $200 or less, virtually all of it sent via the Internet, Obama's latest report to the Federal Election Commission shows. Obama also outspent his Republican rival in August, shelling out $53.5 million on everything from television advertising and mass mailings to polling, food and lodging.

T. Rowe Price Group awarded nearly $24 million in compensation last year to its top three executives, reflecting the Baltimore money manager's strong performance and inflows of new money despite market volatility. Chief executive James A.C. Kennedy's package totaled $7.74 million in salary, bonus, stock awards and perks last year, according to a preliminary proxy filed yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Most of Kennedy's pay came from a cash bonus of $5.75 million, an increase from $4.3 million in 2006.

Republican Mitt Romney has spent more money, $52 million, and aired more television ads than any other candidate in his quest to become president, a survey and campaign finance reports released yesterday show. Still, national polls show Romney lagging behind former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani in the race for the Republican nomination. According to reports filed yesterday with the Federal Election Commission, Romney has amassed more than $61 million - counting the $17.35 million he has lent his campaign.

NEW YORK -- Battered by legal and financial troubles, Vonage Holdings Corp. has slipped from its spot as the largest provider of Internet-based phone service, overtaken by cable firm Comcast Corp. Reporting second-quarter financial results yesterday, Vonage said it had slowed financial losses by cutting marketing expenses, but that also meant fewer new subscribers. Vonage also said it had made progress with technology changes meant to sidestep a court ruling that it violated patents held by Verizon Communications Inc., of New York Vonage, based in Holmdel, N.J., gained 57,000 customers for a total of 2.45 million in the three months ending June 30. In that period, Comcast surpassed the 3 million mark by adding 671,000 subscribers for its digital phone service.

WASHINGTON -- A Senate panel approved $984.2 million yesterday for military construction in Maryland, including $719.7 million to accommodate the base realignment that is expected to bring tens of thousands of jobs to the state. The $109.2 billion military construction and veterans affairs bill that was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee includes includes $287.1 million for Aberdeen Proving Ground, $164 million for Fort Meade and $214.8 million for the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda.

Carrollton Bank is seeking more than $3 million in judgments against Steve Eisner and Sara Eisner in connection with loans the couple guaranteed for the failed advertising agency Eisner Communications Inc. Two separate complaints filed in Baltimore Circuit Court this week ask for unpaid balances of $1.9 million and $1.2 million, along with interest, collection costs and attorney's fees of close to a half-million dollars. Neither the Eisners nor an attorney for Carrollton Bank could be reached yesterday.

Weeks of acrimonious debate over Anne Arundel County's $1.44 billion budget ended with little fanfare yesterday as the County Council unanimously passed the fiscal 2008 spending plan that leaves lawmakers resigned, nonprofit organizations reeling and education leaders riled. The budget keeps virtually every priority laid out early last month by County Executive John R. Leopold. It includes funding for a negotiated 6 percent raise for teachers; $6 million to buy 30 acres in Lothian from a developer; and $2 million in repairs for the ice rink at Quiet Waters Park.

The proposal to take Educate Inc. private in a management-led buyout appears to be on track with shareholders expected to meet on or about June 12 to vote on the transaction, according to financial documents filed yesterday. The Baltimore company best known for its Sylvan tutoring centers also announced what likely will be its last quarterly earnings report as a public company. Net income declined 29 percent to $2.4 million, or 5 cents per share, in the three months that ended March 31, compared with $3.3 million, or 8 cents per share, in the year-ago first quarter.

Spider-Man 3 swings into theaters at midnight, the latest in a long line of comic-book heroes who've gone Hollywood. While the past two Spidey films have set the commercial and artistic standard for the genre, not all superheroes pack the same punch. Here are some of the strongest - and puniest (all box-office numbers are unadjusted U.S. grosses from the Internet Movie Database): Poised to save planet X-Men: Unshackled from chunky exposition that hindered the first one, X-2: X-Men United was one of the best comic-book movies.