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

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
Hagerstown, MD
Breaking News
Nearly Half-Kilo Of Cocaine Taken Off Streets In Hagerstown Drug Bust: Officials Nearly Half-Kilo Of Cocaine Taken Off Streets In Hagerstown Drug Bust: Officials
Nearly Half-Kilo Of Cocaine Taken Off Streets In Hagerstown Drug Bust: Officials Cocaine, a Glock and stacks upon stacks of cash. That was the scene investigators say they uncovered during a Maryland drug raid on Tuesday, Aug. 18. The Washington County Narcotics Task Force descended on the 400 block of Gandy Dancer Court in Hagerstown, executing a search warrant tied to an ongoing drug investigation. Inside, investigators say they found approximately 478.7 grams of powdered cocaine. Nearly half a kilo. Then there was the money. Nearly $15,000 in cash was recovered along with a Glock 43X semi-automatic handgun and assorted drug paraphernalia, according to the task fo…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Love, Drugs, Guns: DC Couple Busted In Fentanyl Operation Out Of Apartment, Feds Say Love, Drugs, Guns: DC Couple Busted In Fentanyl Operation Out Of Apartment, Feds Say
Love, Drugs, Guns: DC Couple Busted In Fentanyl Operation Out Of Apartment, Feds Say Tainted Love? A DC couple who ran an alleged drug trafficking operation from their apartment in the nation's capital is facing charges, federal authorities announced. Katie Shameka Williams, 33, and Kenneth Darnell Smith Jr., 32, have been arrested for allegedly running their drug distribution operation in the Congress Heights neighborhood. In March, officials say an investigation was launched into a narcotics distribution operation based in the 1600 block of Savannah Street SE. Over the course of several months, investigators say they documented at least nine instances of crack cocaine a…

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by Zak Failla
Great Falls, VA
Breaking News
Chilling Details Emerge In Great Falls Park Killing Involving Knife, Gloves, Gasoline: Reports Chilling Details Emerge In Great Falls Park Killing Involving Knife, Gloves, Gasoline: Reports
Chilling Details Emerge In Great Falls Park Killing Involving Knife, Gloves, Gasoline: Reports The arrest in Maryland was only the beginning of what Alexis Antonio Cedillos-Campos allegedly told homicide detectives. Cedillos-Campos, 19, was taken into custody without incident in Prince George's County on Wednesday, Aug. 19, two days after 42-year-old Carmen Lizet Puch was found stabbed to death near the Difficult Run Trail in Great Falls, Virginia. Hours after the arrest, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said Cedillos-Campos was "offering a full confession for what transpired" as detectives interviewed him about Puch's killing. Investigators believe the killing was premeditat…

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by Zak Failla
Annapolis, MD
Breaking News
Fatality Confirmed After Reported Propane Explosion Collapses Annapolis Home (UPDATED) Fatality Confirmed After Reported Propane Explosion Collapses Annapolis Home (UPDATED)
Fatality Confirmed After Reported Propane Explosion Collapses Annapolis Home (Updated) A frantic rescue effort at the scene of a Maryland house explosion has taken a deadly turn. One person was killed, and another was rescued after a reported propane explosion caused a significant collapse of a home in the 1100 block of Green Holly Drive in Annapolis on Wednesday, Aug. 19, according to Anne Arundel County Professional Fire Fighters. The blast brought crews to the home shortly before 12:40 p.m., according to the Anne Arundel County Fire Department. Photos from the scene show the force of the explosion left the home heavily damaged, with portions of the structure collapsed and…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Your Community
Night Cheering On Commanders Ends In Nightmare For Family Of 4 Seriously Hurt In Crash Night Cheering On Commanders Ends In Nightmare For Family Of 4 Seriously Hurt In Crash
Night Cheering On Commanders Ends In Nightmare For Family Of 4 Seriously Hurt In Crash A night spent cheering on Washington ended with a Maryland family facing a much different fight. The Brown family was heading home after watching the Commanders beat the Miami Dolphins, 20-7, in a preseason game on Friday, Aug. 14, when they were struck by a car, according to a GoFundMe campaign launched on their behalf. All four family members suffered serious injuries in the crash, organizers said. Trinity was hurt the worst. She is recovering at Christiana Hospital in Delaware and has “a long road ahead of her,” according to loved ones. The family had spent the night together chee…

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by Zak Failla
Chantilly, VA
Breaking News
Congress Targets ICE Agents After Gun-Drawn Confrontation With Virginia Woman Goes Viral Congress Targets ICE Agents After Gun-Drawn Confrontation With Virginia Woman Goes Viral
Congress Targets ICE Agents After Gun-Drawn Confrontation With Virginia Woman Goes Viral The viral showdown between ICE agents and a Virginia woman is headed to Capitol Hill. Six House Democrats opened an investigation on Wednesday, Aug. 19, into the encounter involving Northern Virginia counselor Carolina Molina, whose cellphone and dashcam videos show a masked federal agent approaching her vehicle with his gun drawn during an immigration operation in Bailey's Crossroads near Falls Church. And this time, lawmakers want ICE's video. They also want the ICE agents involved pulled from duty and placed on administrative leave while their conduct is investigated. The demands come …

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by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
Breaking News
$100K Crash: Suspected Virginia DUI Driver Takes Out Utility Pole, Gas Station Canopy $100K Crash: Suspected Virginia DUI Driver Takes Out Utility Pole, Gas Station Canopy
$100K Crash: Suspected Virginia DUI Driver Takes Out Utility Pole, Gas Station Canopy A 71-year-old man is facing criminal charges following a single-vehicle crash in Virginia that sent him to the hospital and left several businesses in the dark. Shortly before 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 18, officers from the Culpeper County Police Department were called to the area of Orange Road and Germanna Highway, where a driver struck a utility pole. According to investigators, Culpeper resident David Green was behind the wheel after leaving a business. He then crossed the center line and struck the pole, causing a chain reaction that ended with the pole falling onto the canopy at C&am…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Your Community
WATCH: Runaway Emu Gives Virginia Firefighters A Very Different Kind Of Rescue WATCH: Runaway Emu Gives Virginia Firefighters A Very Different Kind Of Rescue
Watch: Runaway Emu Gives Virginia Firefighters A Very Different Kind Of Rescue "No two days are alike in this job." Firefighters in Northern Virginia traded flames for feathers on Tuesday, Aug. 18, when a runaway emu sent crews scrambling for a very different kind of rescue. The unusual call came from the Hamilton area of Loudoun County, where members of Fire Station 5 were dispatched to help reunite the escaped bird with its owner, according to the Loudoun Career Fire Fighters Association. No hoses needed. Just a little teamwork and some careful wrangling. Video from the encounter shows two rescuers working together in a wooded area as they guide the surprisingl…

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by Zak Failla
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