On May 30, 2020, at approximately 4:01 a.m., officers responded to an area hospital for a report of a walk-in shooting victim.
Once at the location, officers located a 31 year-old male and an adult female both suffering from gunshot wounds.
The 31 year-old male was pronounced dead by doctors. The female’s condition is unknown at this time.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the victims were walking in the 300 block of Key Highway when they got into a verbal dispute with the suspect. The suspect produced a gun and shot both victims before fleeing the location.
Homicide detectives are asking anyone with information to contact them at 410-396-2100 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7Lockup.
Police announced the reward money for help in bringing Antonio Oliver Janifer, who has been sought since Tuesday night when police said he shot Officer Joshua Jackson in Federal Hill.
Though it can’t fill the building with its staff at this time, the digital-first, integrated marketing agency Vitamin has completed the relocation of its headquarters from Highlandtown to 720 Light St. in Federal Hill. Vitamin co-owners and wife and husband Amanda Karfakis and Mike Karfakis purchased the 6,000 sq. ft. building in January 2019 and completed a full renovation of the space.
720 Light St. was the former home of The Joseph E. Shaner Company which was acquired in 2017.
Vitamin, which started 19 years ago, is tripling the size of its headquarters with the move to Federal Hill.
720 Light St. is across the street from the Inner Harbor. Amanda Karfakis told SouthBMore.com last year the new location allows the team to walk to many places for lunch, walk to the harbor, have a walking meeting, and attend stadium events without moving their cars.
“The visibility is what tipped us over the top,” said Amanda Karfakis. She talked about the northern facade that is visible for several blocks up Light St. and the high traffic volume at the intersection. The visibility also gives the office building views of Downtown and the Inner Harbor that Amanda Karfakis calls “absolutely ridiculous.”
Vitamin is adding temporary signage on the facade this week and will take on more exterior renovations in the next year.
Amanda and Mike Karfakis have experience renovating Baltimore properties and said buying was a “strategic and economic decision.”
“We are able to eliminate some of the threats renters face and it allows us to remain nimble,” said Amanda Karfakis. “We don’t have to report to a landlord, we can make our own decisions.”
Vitamin worked with Joe Nolan of KLNB to acquire the building and RMF Engineering as the engineer on the project. Gaudreau, Inc. is the architect of record and Jensen Hughes is a consultant.
Vitamin employees have been working remotely since COVID-19 lockdowns began, but “the team is eager to begin collaborating in the agency’s new digs.” More than half of the team lives in Baltimore City.
Vitamin is a full-service marketing company with services including branding, logo development, public relations, and website development. It helps companies with marketing, communications, and business growth. It also helps companies market themselves to get acquired.
Vitamin has many clients in commercial real estate, architecture, engineering, and construction. It also works with companies in finance, health and human services, manufacturing, and nonprofit industries.
Below is a photo tour of the headquarters:
Photos courtesy of Maximilian Franz
First Floor
The first floor features the main lobby with open ceilings, waiting area, large conference room, war room, and entertainment area. The offices and conference rooms use a seamless glass system from local supplier Dynamic Hive. D-Hive’s system is minimal on framing with large, sliding entrances. Vitamin’s main conference room has seating for up to 16.
Second Floor
The second floor is the creative services collaboration area. “This is the space where our design and development teams work closely together to bring our clients’ brands new life,” said a press release from Vitamin. Also in the release:
Features include open ceilings, exposed duct work, architectural lighting and sound, and two private work/meeting areas. Plus, a full bath with a private shower for those who love biking to work or getting in a lunch-time workout. Eco-friendly water filler stations will be located here and on other levels to eliminate the use of single-use plastic bottles.
We chose a solid, wide plank, character-grade white oak for our flooring on levels 1, 2 and 3. This flooring was milled to order for 720 Light Street. Big thanks to Baltimore Floor Supply and GrafBros out of South Shore, KY. This is a rift and quartered plank bringing strength, durability and gorgeous textures.
Third Floor
About the space from the release:
This is where you’ll find our Account Services team, PR pros and C-suite. Here, and throughout our studio, audio is integrated and controllable from work stations and smart phones. All parting walls on this floor are soundproofed for this chatty bunch of strategic thinkers. The best part? Rooftop access to one of the most amazing views of Downtown Baltimore.
Lower Level
About the space from the release:
The lower level is where our team can relax and refuel. Tall ceilings, natural light, a polished concrete floor and exposed concrete bearing walls frame our café and gourmet, eat-in kitchen. There’s a twelve foot island that seats six, complete with charging stations for devices. An entertainment area helps our team unwind, recharge and connect to keep our creativity and collaboration fresh.
And in keeping with Vitamin’s commitment to employee health and responsible environmental practices, this area is equipped with interior bike racks for commuting cyclists.
When the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in BricknFire Pizza Company cancelling about 150 events and closing the dining room at its Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards restaurant, owner Megan Lanasa knew she had pivot to keep her business growing and keep her staff in place. She decided to launch a frozen pizza line to supplement sales and keep her 18-person staff making pizzas.
BricknFire also has three pizza trucks, one of which was purchased right before the pandemic hit. While two of the trucks are not getting used right now, one is currently set up four days a week for online orders at The Breadery, a business owned by Lanasa’s parents in Catonsville.
BricknFire’s pizzas are made in an 800 degree oven and the frozen pizzas can be reheated in 8 to 10 minutes in an oven, on a stone, or on a grill. Lansasa said she really likes frozen pizzas as they are super crispy when they are reheated.
In the world of pizza, getting a pie reviewed by Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy on his One Bite Pizza Reviews series can be a serious launching pad for business. His comedic, no holds barred pizza reviews are typically viewed by millions and often featured celebrity guests before social distancing started. If you talk to a pizza shop owner, they’ll likely tell you how they’d love to get reviewed by Portnoy. Federal Hill’s Tinybrickoven even has a backdrop for customers to do their own One Bite Pizza Reviews on their phone.
During the pandemic, Portnoy has shifted to reviewing frozen pizzas from his New York City apartment. Pizza companies have been sending their frozen pizzas hoping they’ll get reviewed or opened on one of his unboxing videos.
Lanasa’s husband Paul Basdekis has been pushing her to send Portnoy a pizza and finally they decided to do it on May 15th. To their surprise, Portnoy opened, cooked, and reviewed the pizza the day he got it. Thinking it would take some time for Portnoy to review it, Lanasa said, “we weren’t ready for it.”
Basdekis wrote a letter telling Lanasa’s story about how she began helping out at The Breadery in elementary school and saved up money waiting tables after college to buy her first pizza trailer pulled from a 1994 Chevy Avalanche. He included how she later won the Marriott competition called Canvas, which led to her location in the Downtown hotel, and how the pandemic led to the launching of the frozen pizza line. Portnoy called it “a great story.”
Portnoy said the pizza was good, “better than most frozen pizza,” and had an “interesting tang to it,” which Lanasa said comes from her four cheese blend of fontina, asiago, white cheddar, and mozzarella cheese. Portnoy, who rarely gives a score over 9, gave it a 7.1.
Lanasa said the review crashed her website within 20 minutes of it being posted and led to a “crazy week” of local deliveries. BricknFire wasn’t yet set up for national deliveries, but was able to recently get that going.
Lanasa said she was going to be happy with anything over a 7 and said Portnoy was “very kind” as he spoke multiple times about loving her story. Lanasa did say she wished they would’ve sent a margherita pizza, which just has mozzarella cheese and fresh basil, as that may have been more in Portnoy’s wheelhouse of loving simple cheese pizzas. She said they might still send him one.
The One Bite review of BricknFire has now been viewed more than 1,080,000 times between YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the One Bite app.
BricknFire sells its frozen pizzas individually for $11 for cheese or margherita or $12 for pepperoni. Customers receive $1 off for each pizza if they buy a case of 10. From the website customers can buy half cases and mix and match pizza styles as they choose. BricknFire’s staff offers non-contact delivery of the frozen pies on Tuesdays and Thursdays for much of Maryland and Aldie, Virginia. Nationwide deliveries are packaged with dry ice.
The frozen pizzas are also sold at a couple stores in Sykesville and Westminster in Maryland.
The Marriott location is still open for carryout and partners with three delivery apps. Lanasa said the lunch shifts have been slower than usual, but evening business has been busy with deliveries. She noted that business was on pace to increase by 20% but is now down by about 30%.
BricknFire’s staff has been coming in earlier to bake and box the frozen pizzas and it has given them something to work on during a slower lunch.
Lanasa said making frozen pizzas is very efficient, but required a lot of learning as shipping is “a whole new ballgame.” As things return to normal, Lanasa looks forward to combining the frozen pizza business with the return of events and a busy dining room at her Downtown BricknFire location. She said they’ll likely keep operating at The Breadery through the summer and said she may look to add a new brick-and-mortar location in the future.
With all the changes in 2020, Lanasa said they have not only been able to keep their staff, but they have been able to add new team member. She said overall sales will likely net out to about the same as last year.
The Baltimore police officer who was shot and wounded during a chase in Federal Hill Tuesday night is Officer Joshua Jackson, a 27-year-old Anne Arundel County native also known as "Saint, the Rapping Cop" sources confirmed.
