Quarterly Newsletter

Q: What can you tell me about my very ornate, 9-inch-high porcelain coffee pot with raspberry-colored trim around the spout, rim and foot; a mythological scene in a gold panel on the body; and gold flowers all over? It's marked with a green saint in an oval, flanked by "O" and "S" and the words "St. Ruan Germany" underneath.A: Your early 20th-century melon-shaped coffee pot with the mark of Oscar Schlegelmilch is worth up to $400 in good condition, according to Mary Frank Gaston, author of the two-volume illustrated set, "The Collector's Encyclopedia of R. S. Prussia" (Collector Books, 1992; $26.95 from Gaston, P.O. Box 342, Bryan, Texas 77806)

Venice, Calif. -- Dennis Reid, an astrologer along this beachfront strip of tarot card readers, spray-paint artists and street comedians, inserts a disc into his laptop computer, pulls up the chart of O. J. Simpson and scrolls to June 12, the day his former wife was murdered."

If you're looking for a better grasp on financial markets and investing, www.efficientfrontier. com may be just what the doctor ordered. The Web site is maintained by Dr. William J. Bernstein, a practicing neurologist and author of finance and investment books, including The Intelligent Asset Allocator and The Four Pillars of Investing. His Web site is a kind of quarterly newsletter in which Bernstein and associates sketch out ideas on what makes markets tick, and how investors can profit.

The Developing Business Network, an organization of trained professionals devoted to helping small businesses grow, has been formed to act as a counselor for small business from initial development to prosperity.The network's president is Westminster resident Alfred A. Betz. A panel of professionals from various fields, including banking, law, business planning, accounting, marketing, insurance and public relations provides advice for business success.Also available are a quarterly newsletter and a 24-hour help line for businesses.

Manekin Corp. to lease space in Clark BuildingKollman Properties Corp. of Columbia has selected Manekin Corp. to lease 61,530 square feet of space at the Clark Building, a 106,983 square foot, five-story office building at 5565 Sterrett Place, in Columbia's Town Center. George Santos and Adam Nachlas are Manekin's leasing representatives for the project.Manekin Corp. provides real estate services in the Baltimore-Washington area.PeopleNancy F. Huggins has joined the staff of inSITE Training & Development as director of marketing, responsible for marketing, editing the quarterly newsletter and overseeing the company's public relations program and proposal management.

The Television Project visited a Baltimore elementary school this month, offering children alternatives to the medium that dominates most living rooms.Annamarie Pluhar, 43, founded the nonprofit organization, based in Silver Spring, to loosen television's grip on family life. Through workshops, lectures and a quarterly newsletter, Pluhar urges parents to change their children's point of view."Kids today are truly at a loss if they turn off the TV," Pluhar said. "Parents depend on it as a baby sitter and children are watching for hours.

Q: How valuable is our 15-inch-high Charlie McCarthy doll by EFFanBEE, which my wife received as a gift 55 years ago? The doll's in only fair condition: There's a chip near its chin, its white suit has yellowed, and its monocle has disappeared.A: If your doll were in mint condition, complete with its original box and name tag, it would be worth around $800, says antique-doll dealer Richard Wright, P.O. Box 227, Birchrunville, Pa. 19421, (215) 827-7442. In its present condition, its value falls to about $200.

Q: I love the little ceramic cottages, houses and shops inspired by Norman Rockwell and Charles Dickens. Are there any collectors groups or publications related to such collectibles?A: Miniature structures inspired by Norman Rockwell's painting "Main Street, Stockbridge" are produced by Rhodes Studio and were authorized by the Norman Rockwell Family Trust. The Main Street miniature buildings, produced as a limited-edition series in 1990 and '91, include Rockwell's studio, an antiques shop, town offices, a country store, a library and a bank.

In an effort to increase police presence on the streets, Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin P. Clark has ordered about 150 detectives, administrators and others to temporarily join the department's patrol division. The move comes shortly after the police union president criticized Clark in the union's quarterly newsletter for depleting the patrol division. It also is being made as the city remains on pace to have as many homicides as last year - when the number increased for the first time since Mayor Martin O'Malley took office in 1999.

The Alvin Ailey summer dance camp for disadvantaged inner-city kids here will be able to triple its number of campers thanks to a $66,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, part of a major new initiative to aid "artistically under-served communities."The NEA grant, funneled through the Maryland State Arts Council, means the camp will be able to serve between 80 and 100 at-risk middle school-aged kids each of the next two summers. Last summer, when the program was held for the first time, only 30 kids were able to attend, said Ann McIntosh, executive director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre Foundation of Maryland.