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

Alexandria, VA
Breaking News
Virginia Man Had 'Carnal Knowledge' Of Teen He Knew Over Past Year, Police Say Virginia Man Had 'Carnal Knowledge' Of Teen He Knew Over Past Year, Police Say Virginia Man Had 'Carnal Knowledge' Of Teen He Knew Over Past Year, Police Say
Virginia Man Had 'Carnal Knowledge' Of Teen He Knew Over Past Year, Police Say A Virginia man allegedly engaged in sexual activity with a child he knew over the course of a year, police say. Jacob Ritchie, 25, of Culpeper, was arrested after the allegations were reported to Culpeper Police on Wednesday, Sept. 23, prompting detectives to investigate what they say had been happening over the past year. The child is between 13 and 15 years old, according to police. Detectives interviewed those involved and reviewed digital and electronic evidence before charging Ritchie with five felony counts of carnal knowledge of a child between 13 and 15. More charges could be comi…

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by Zak Failla
Frederick, MD
Breaking News
Farmhands Race To Save Maryland Farm As Smoke Rises From Towering Hay Stacks Farmhands Race To Save Maryland Farm As Smoke Rises From Towering Hay Stacks Farmhands Race To Save Maryland Farm As Smoke Rises From Towering Hay Stacks
Farmhands Race To Save Maryland Farm As Smoke Rises From Towering Hay Stacks A quick decision may have saved a Maryland farm from a far more expensive disaster. Smoke was spotted among towering stacks of hay at Deere Valley Farm in Dickerson at around 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 24, prompting the owner and farmhands to call 911 and get to work before firefighters even finished arriving. They started moving the massive bales out. The fire at Deere Valley Farms in Dickerson. Twitter/@mcfrsPIO About 50 Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service firefighters ultimately responded to the farm on Dickerson Road near Mouth of Monocacy Road, where hay was smolderin…

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by Zak Failla
Fairfax, VA
Breaking News
Firefighters Forced To Retreat As Burning Fairfax County Home Partially Collapses (VIDEO) Firefighters Forced To Retreat As Burning Fairfax County Home Partially Collapses (VIDEO) Firefighters Forced To Retreat As Burning Fairfax County Home Partially Collapses (VIDEO)
Firefighters Forced To Retreat As Burning Fairfax County Home Partially Collapses (Video) The house was already burning on both floors when part of it started coming down. Firefighters battling a raging two-alarm Virginia house fire late Thursday, Sept. 24, were forced to retreat and attack the flames from outside after part of the home collapsed, officials said. Crews were called to Fordson Road and Douglas Street in the Mount Vernon area of Fairfax County at 11:27 p.m. after multiple 911 callers reported heavy fire, black smoke and flames shooting through the roof. When firefighters arrived, they found a two-story home engulfed in heavy fire on both levels. Crews initiall…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
140 Kilos Of Cocaine, 10 Kilos Of Fentanyl Seized In Massive Baltimore Drug Bust: DOJ 140 Kilos Of Cocaine, 10 Kilos Of Fentanyl Seized In Massive Baltimore Drug Bust: DOJ 140 Kilos Of Cocaine, 10 Kilos Of Fentanyl Seized In Massive Baltimore Drug Bust: DOJ
140 Kilos Of Cocaine, 10 Kilos Of Fentanyl Seized In Massive Baltimore Drug Bust: DOJ The drugs were hiding in plain sight. A massive Maryland trafficking operation moved cocaine into Baltimore inside steel structures hauled on flatbed trailers, then used the same hidden compartments to ship drug money back out, federal prosecutors allege. Six people were indicted in the case announced on Thursday, Sept. 24, including 58-year-old George Robinson, whom investigators came to suspect was a major Baltimore cocaine supplier. And the numbers behind the alleged operation were staggering. Federal investigators ultimately seized more than 140 kilograms of cocaine, roughly 10 kilogr…

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by Zak Failla
Hagerstown, MD
Breaking News
Hagerstown Man Paid Mothers For Sexually Explicit Images Of Girls As Young As 6, Feds Say Hagerstown Man Paid Mothers For Sexually Explicit Images Of Girls As Young As 6, Feds Say Hagerstown Man Paid Mothers For Sexually Explicit Images Of Girls As Young As 6, Feds Say
Hagerstown Man Paid Mothers For Sexually Explicit Images Of Girls As Young As 6, Feds Say It started with a broken cellphone. Now, the Maryland man who brought it in for repairs is headed to federal prison for more than a decade. William Foster Alger, 76, of Hagerstown, was sentenced on Thursday, Sept. 24 to 138 months behind bars after admitting to sexually exploiting girls in Ecuador, including one who was just 6 years old. The case first surfaced in November 2024, when Alger walked into the Boost Mobile on Maryland Avenue in Hagerstown to have his phone repaired. Employees working on it discovered nude images of underage girls and alerted police, according to previous Daily…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Loaded Glock Found Down DC Man's Pant Leg After Stolen Car Crash, Chase: Feds Loaded Glock Found Down DC Man's Pant Leg After Stolen Car Crash, Chase: Feds Loaded Glock Found Down DC Man's Pant Leg After Stolen Car Crash, Chase: Feds
Loaded Glock Found Down DC Man's Pant Leg After Stolen Car Crash, Chase: Feds The Chrysler was wrecked. Running wasn't going to work. And there was still a loaded Glock stuffed down his pant leg. That was where things stood for Kamar Clayton after a short-lived escape attempt in DC that began with three smashed parked cars and ended with the 23-year-old in handcuffs. On Thursday, Sept. 24, Clayton was sentenced to two years in federal prison for the gun officers found on him that night. The strange part? Police weren't after him in the first place. At around 7:26 p.m. on March 23, Metropolitan Police and federal officers were attempting to stop a different vehicle …

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by Zak Failla
Lexington Park, MD
Breaking News
Maryland Schools Official Doctored Amazon Receipts To Hide $118K Theft: Prosecutors Maryland Schools Official Doctored Amazon Receipts To Hide $118K Theft: Prosecutors Maryland Schools Official Doctored Amazon Receipts To Hide $118K Theft: Prosecutors
Maryland Schools Official Doctored Amazon Receipts To Hide $118K Theft: Prosecutors A six-figure Amazon shopping spree is sending a former Maryland school administrator to prison. Denise R. Shorts, the former chief academic officer and assistant superintendent for Worcester County Public Schools, admitted on Wednesday, Sept. 23 that she used a district credit card to make $118,741.89 in personal purchases while working for the school system. And she wasn't stocking classrooms. According to prosecutors, Shorts used the card to buy clothing, shoes, makeup and beauty supplies, along with pool and exercise equipment for her home. She also bought supplies and technology for a…

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by Zak Failla
Waldorf, MD
Breaking News
School Bus Carrying 20 Students Lands In Maryland Ditch; Driver Hospitalized (PHOTOS) School Bus Carrying 20 Students Lands In Maryland Ditch; Driver Hospitalized (PHOTOS) School Bus Carrying 20 Students Lands In Maryland Ditch; Driver Hospitalized (PHOTOS)
School Bus Carrying 20 Students Lands In Maryland Ditch; Driver Hospitalized (Photos) Twenty students had a much different ride to school than they bargained for in Maryland. The school bus ran off Bicknell Road near Mason Springs Road in Charles County on Wednesday morning, Sept. 23, leaving it lodged at an angle in a roadside ditch, according to the Tenth District Volunteer Fire Department. The photos tell much of the story. The yellow bus can be seen leaning along the embankment as firefighters worked around it and emergency vehicles filled the roadway. Tenth District Volunteer Fire Department Inside had been 20 students and their driver. All 21 were evaluated for in…

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by Zak Failla
Lexington Park, MD
Breaking News
Gun, Cocaine, Oxycodone Found Inside Maryland Home Lead To Lengthy Prison Stay For Trafficker Gun, Cocaine, Oxycodone Found Inside Maryland Home Lead To Lengthy Prison Stay For Trafficker Gun, Cocaine, Oxycodone Found Inside Maryland Home Lead To Lengthy Prison Stay For Trafficker
Gun, Cocaine, Oxycodone Found Inside Maryland Home Lead To Lengthy Prison Stay For Trafficker A drug raid in Maryland turned up a little bit of everything. It started on Dec. 21, 2023, when members of the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at 725 Meadow Wood Drive in Salisbury as part of a drug investigation. What investigators say they found inside quickly added up. Deputies recovered a regulated firearm, a large amount of cocaine, oxycodone pills and a large amount of cannabis, according to the Wicomico County State’s Attorney’s Office. They also found manufacturing equipment used to produce and distribute narcotics, prosecutors said. The investigation l…

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by Zak Failla
Elkton, MD
Breaking News
Wanted In 3 States, Elkton Man Gets Away Twice Before Stolen Ford Gives Out In Maryland: Police Wanted In 3 States, Elkton Man Gets Away Twice Before Stolen Ford Gives Out In Maryland: Police Wanted In 3 States, Elkton Man Gets Away Twice Before Stolen Ford Gives Out In Maryland: Police
Wanted In 3 States, Elkton Man Gets Away Twice Before Stolen Ford Gives Out In Maryland: Police A wanted man driving a stolen car led police across state lines before twice ramming Maryland State Police cruisers while trying to get away, authorities said. Justin Burchett, 42, of Elkton, was arrested on Wednesday, Sept. 23, following a pursuit that began in Cecil County, crossed into Pennsylvania, and ended hours later at a gas station in Harford County. Burchett was already wanted on multiple felony warrants in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, including for first-degree assault in connection with a recent Pennsylvania State Police investigation, according to MSP. Shortly before …

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by Zak Failla
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