Zak Failla

Assistant Managing Editor

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Equal parts Lois Lane, J. Jonah Jameson and Vicki Vale, Zak! has traveled from coast-to-coast covering small and big town community news in both in print and online for nearly a decade since his graduation from the award-winning Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College in 2010.

Before settling into the Hudson Valley, Zak! previously spent time in the New York Daily News newsroom and worked for hyperlocal digital news outlets on Long Island. He wrote sports for The Ithacan and The Ithaca Journal before taking his talents to the Pacific Northwest, where he served as the sports editor at the Shoshone News-Press until heading back east to work with Daily Voice.

Zak Failla's Contributions

Great Falls, VA
Obituaries
3-Year-Old Facing 'Unimaginable Future' Without Mother Brutally Murdered In Great Falls Park 3-Year-Old Facing 'Unimaginable Future' Without Mother Brutally Murdered In Great Falls Park
3-Year-Old Facing 'Unimaginable Future' Without Mother Brutally Murdered In Great Falls Park A 3-year-old girl will have to grow up without her mother after she was brutally murdered by an acquaintance in Virginia. Carmen Lizet Puch, 42, was found fatally stabbed near her Honda at Difficult Run Park in Great Falls early on Monday, Aug. 17, after arranging to meet a friend there, police said. Days after her death, 19-year-old Alexis Antonio Cedillos-Campos was arrested and charged with her murder. Now, as investigators continue building their case against the teen, those who knew Puch are trying to make sure her young daughter is cared for after losing the woman who moved from New …

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by Zak Failla
Catonsville, MD
Breaking News
Navy Vet Fought For America For More Than A Decade, Now US Wants To Deport His Wife Navy Vet Fought For America For More Than A Decade, Now US Wants To Deport His Wife
Navy Vet Fought For America For More Than A Decade, Now US Wants To Deport His Wife Benjamin Littlejohn fought for his country for more than a decade. Now that same country is trying to ship his wife out. Littlejohn married his wife Sayaka during his time stationed on a US Navy destroyer in Yokosuka, Japan, he wrote in a GoFundMe based out of Catonsville that quickly took off. The serviceman explained that after marrying his wife and returning stateside, they received a letter from an immigration court stating that Littlejohn's wife must be deported. "Yesterday, (Monday, Aug. 17), we received a letter from an immigration court that stated Sayaka missed a court hearin…

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by Zak Failla
Annapolis, MD
Weather
Tornadoes, Damaging Winds Possible As Severe Storms Take Aim At DC, Maryland, Virginia: NWS Tornadoes, Damaging Winds Possible As Severe Storms Take Aim At DC, Maryland, Virginia: NWS
Tornadoes, Damaging Winds Possible As Severe Storms Take Aim At DC, Maryland, Virginia: NWS Enjoy the quiet while it lasts. A muggy Thursday could take a nasty turn across DC, Maryland and Virginia as the afternoon wears on, with severe storms threatening to bring damaging winds, hail, flooding and even a few tornadoes into the evening, forecasters say. The timing isn't ideal. Storms are expected to begin firing during the afternoon before becoming more widespread through roughly 4 to 6 p.m., putting parts of the Baltimore-Washington corridor in the crosshairs around the evening commute, according to the National Weather Service. Much of the region east of the Blue Ridge is unde…

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by Zak Failla
Sterling, VA
Breaking News
BWI Saw 2 Massive Khat Busts, Then Dulles Officers Opened These Eight Suitcases BWI Saw 2 Massive Khat Busts, Then Dulles Officers Opened These Eight Suitcases
BWI Saw 2 Massive Khat Busts, Then Dulles Officers Opened These Eight Suitcases Apparently, BWI wasn't the only airport getting buried in khat. After federal officers seized more than 1,250 pounds of the illegal stimulant at the Maryland airport in back-to-back busts, another massive load surfaced one day later and about 60 miles away. This time, someone wound up behind bars. New York native Mohamed Diawara, 25, arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport on a flight from Paris on Friday, Aug. 14, when US Customs and Border Protection officers sent him for a secondary inspection, federal officials announced on Thursday, Aug. 20. Then they opened his luggage. …

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by Zak Failla
Bethesda, MD
Breaking News
Sick People Reported As High Carbon Monoxide Levels Hit Bethesda Bank, High-Rise (DEVELOPING) Sick People Reported As High Carbon Monoxide Levels Hit Bethesda Bank, High-Rise (DEVELOPING)
Sick People Reported As High Carbon Monoxide Levels Hit Bethesda Bank, High-Rise (Developing) What started as the smell of gas quickly became a bigger concern in Maryland on Thursday afternoon. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service crews were called to the 8300 block of Woodmont Avenue in Bethesda shortly before 12:40 p.m. on Aug. 20 following reports of an odor of gas inside and people feeling sick, according to spokesperson David Pazos. Then the meters started picking something up. Firefighters detected high levels of carbon monoxide inside the Wells Fargo bank at the address, Pazos said. The readings weren't limited to the bank. Elevated carbon monoxide levels were also de…

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by Zak Failla
Accokeek, MD
Breaking News
Badge To Behind Bars: Ex-Cop From Accokeek Sentenced In Insurance Fraud Scheme: DOJ Badge To Behind Bars: Ex-Cop From Accokeek Sentenced In Insurance Fraud Scheme: DOJ
Badge To Behind Bars: Ex-Cop From Accokeek Sentenced In Insurance Fraud Scheme: DOJ A Maryland cop who helped turn police reports into props for an insurance fraud scheme is trading his badge for a prison jumpsuit. Michael Anthony Owen Jr., 37, of Accokeek, was sentenced on Wednesday, Aug. 19, in Greenbelt to six months in federal prison for falsifying records while serving as a Prince George's County Police officer, federal prosecutors announced. And prison won't be the end of it. US District Judge Lydia Griggsby also sentenced Owen to two years of supervised release, with the first six months to be served on home detention, and ordered him to pay $17,585 in restitution.…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
Baltimore's Most Wanted: 'Armed, Dangerous' Teen Suspect At Large After 17-Year-Old Killed Baltimore's Most Wanted: 'Armed, Dangerous' Teen Suspect At Large After 17-Year-Old Killed
Baltimore's Most Wanted: 'Armed, Dangerous' Teen Suspect At Large After 17-Year-Old Killed A manhunt has been launched as authorities search for a man wanted in connection with the deadly July shooting of a Milford Mill Academy student in Maryland. Metro Crime Stoppers has issued a cash reward as they attempt to hunt down 18-year-old Christian Hursey, who is accused of fatally shooting Jada Sellers, 17, late last month. Sellers was shot on Friday, July 31, in the 700 block of Lyndale Avenue in the Edgewood neighborhood, leaving behind a grieving family who confirmed her death last week. On Thursday, Aug. 20, the Baltimore Police Department confirmed that Hursey was a suspect in …

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
12-Year-Old Arrested In Fatal Shooting Of 13-Year-Old Ahmad Mims In DC: Police 12-Year-Old Arrested In Fatal Shooting Of 13-Year-Old Ahmad Mims In DC: Police
12-Year-Old Arrested In Fatal Shooting Of 13-Year-Old Ahmad Mims In DC: Police A child is dead in DC, and police say another child is responsible. More than a month after 13-year-old Ahmad Mims was found shot on a Northeast DC sidewalk, a 12-year-old boy was arrested Wednesday, Aug. 19, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. The arrest comes after a homicide investigation that began on Saturday, July 11, when Fifth District officers were called to the 1600 block of Rosedale Street NE for a report of a man down. What they found was a 13-year-old boy. Ahmad was lying on the sidewalk suffering from a gunshot wound. DC Fire and EMS responded, but there w…

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by Zak Failla
Silver Spring, MD
Breaking News
Popular Silver Spring Restaurant Closed After Pole Falls On Roof, Fire Breaks Out Popular Silver Spring Restaurant Closed After Pole Falls On Roof, Fire Breaks Out
Popular Silver Spring Restaurant Closed After Pole Falls On Roof, Fire Breaks Out The fallen pole was only the beginning of a long day at a Maryland restaurant. Hours after it crashed onto Mi Rancho Restaurant in Silver Spring, three contract workers were on the roof trying to remove it when the situation took a dangerous turn late Wednesday, Aug. 19, officials say. Fire. Montgomery County crews were dispatched to the Ramsey Avenue restaurant at 11:37 p.m. and arrived to find flames on the roof, with three workers trapped. All three workers ultimately made it off the roof and declined medical transport. The cause of the fire remains unclear. Investigators believe the …

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by Zak Failla
Potomac, MD
Breaking News
Beaver Tests Positive For Rabies After 10-Year-Old Attacked At Seneca State Creek State Park Beaver Tests Positive For Rabies After 10-Year-Old Attacked At Seneca State Creek State Park
Beaver Tests Positive For Rabies After 10-Year-Old Attacked At Seneca State Creek State Park Maryland's bizarre summer of beaver attacks just took another troubling turn. A dead beaver found at Seneca Creek State Park in Montgomery County on Monday, Aug. 17, tested positive for rabies two days later, days after a 10-year-old girl was bitten by a beaver in the same park, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. But there is one lingering question. Officials cannot determine whether the rabid beaver was the same animal that attacked the girl. The child was swimming and wading with a summer camp group near a bend in Seneca Creek by Berryville Road at around 3:30 p.…

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by Zak Failla
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