Zak Failla

Assistant Managing Editor

[email protected]

FOLLOW ON

Facebook Twitter Linkedin Instagram

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

Hagerstown, MD
Breaking News
Family Feud Goes Up In Flames As West Virginia Man Faces Maryland Arson Charges: Fire Marshal Family Feud Goes Up In Flames As West Virginia Man Faces Maryland Arson Charges: Fire Marshal
Family Feud Goes Up In Flames As West Virginia Man Faces Maryland Arson Charges: Fire Marshal A family dispute in Maryland landed a 43-year-old West Virginia man behind bars after intentionally sparking a blaze, authorities announced late on Thursday night. Things apparently got a little Care-less during the family feud. Chad Edward Care, of Hedgesville, was served a criminal summons on Thursday, Aug. 13, at Deep Creek Lake in Garrett County following an investigation by the Office of the Maryland State Fire Marshal. The investigation dates back to approximately 4:50 p.m. on Thursday, July 30, when Deputy State Fire Marshals and accelerant-detection K9 Quinn were called to investig…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Woodbridge, VA
Breaking News
Those Safes From The Woodbridge Chop Shop? Police Just Revealed What Was Inside Those Safes From The Woodbridge Chop Shop? Police Just Revealed What Was Inside
Those Safes From The Woodbridge Chop Shop? Police Just Revealed What Was Inside Turns out the stolen cars were only part of the inventory. Prince William County police peeled back another layer of a sprawling Virginia chop shop investigation on Thursday, Aug. 13, revealing cocaine, THC products, scales and DMV documents recovered as detectives dismantled the operation. And those safes police teased a day earlier? They weren't giving up their secrets willingly. New photos released in "CHOP SHOP | Part 2" show investigators using heavy-duty tools to rip into one of four safes seized from the residence. Once they got inside, detectives found THC products they said were…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
He Was 17 When Morgan State Homecoming Erupted In Gunfire; Now He Knows His Fate He Was 17 When Morgan State Homecoming Erupted In Gunfire; Now He Knows His Fate
He Was 17 When Morgan State Homecoming Erupted In Gunfire; Now He Knows His Fate He was 17 when bullets started flying at a Maryland homecoming celebration. Now 20, Marquis Brown will be pushing 100 if he ever finishes the sentence handed down in Baltimore for his role in the mass shooting that wounded five people at Morgan State University nearly three years ago. Brown, a District resident, was sentenced to 85 years in prison after being convicted in May of five counts of attempted second-degree murder and related offenses. It was the latest chapter in a case that began with chaos on Morgan State's campus on Oct. 3, 2023. That night, students were spilling out of a c…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Sterling, VA
Breaking News
Here's Why 440 Pounds Of Seemingly Harmless Cotton Was Seized At Dulles Airport Here's Why 440 Pounds Of Seemingly Harmless Cotton Was Seized At Dulles Airport
Here's Why 440 Pounds Of Seemingly Harmless Cotton Was Seized At Dulles Airport This was no ordinary baggage claim. A family flying into Virginia with plans to make their own bedding instead landed in the middle of an unusual airport seizure when federal agriculture specialists discovered more than 440 pounds of raw cotton packed inside their luggage at Washington Dulles International Airport. And it wasn't the cotton itself that raised the biggest red flag. It was what was still hiding inside. The family arrived at Dulles from Afghanistan and was referred by US Customs and Border Protection officers for a secondary inspection, according to the agency. They were…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Gaithersburg, MD
Breaking News
He Hit A Homemade Pipe Bomb With A Hammer, Then His Gaithersburg Home Exploded He Hit A Homemade Pipe Bomb With A Hammer, Then His Gaithersburg Home Exploded
He Hit A Homemade Pipe Bomb With A Hammer, Then His Gaithersburg Home Exploded Robert Stojinski Jr. learned the hard way what happens when a homemade explosive meets a hammer. The 43-year-old Gaithersburg man was sentenced to 54 years in prison, with all but 25 years suspended, months after a pipe bomb exploded inside his Montgomery County home, blasting a hole between floors and sending pieces of metal shrapnel flying through the house. Robert Stojinski, Jr. Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office And that was only the beginning of what investigators found inside. The explosion happened at Stojinski's home on Empress Court in Gaithersburg on Oct. 24, 202…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Hagerstown, MD
Breaking News
Hagerstown Grandma Who Drove 11 Miles Before Realizing 7-Year-Old Grandson Was Gone Convicted Hagerstown Grandma Who Drove 11 Miles Before Realizing 7-Year-Old Grandson Was Gone Convicted
Hagerstown Grandma Who Drove 11 Miles Before Realizing 7-Year-Old Grandson Was Gone Convicted A 68-year-old grandmother in Maryland is facing time behind bars after her grandson fell out of her vehicle and was killed. She never noticed he was gone. Hagerstown resident Lorraine Marie O'Neill was found guilty following a four-day trial of neglect of a minor in connection with the death of her 7-year-old grandson in November 2024. On Nov. 24, 2024, prosecutors say O'Neill was driving north on I-97 through Millersville in a 2011 Mazda 3 with her grandson riding in a car seat in the back. As she was traveling near I-97 and Benfield Boulevard, the child fell out of the vehicle’s rear pa…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Your Community
Gone Fishing, Then Disaster: Rogue Wave Sends Virginia Man Into Boat Cleat Gone Fishing, Then Disaster: Rogue Wave Sends Virginia Man Into Boat Cleat
Gone Fishing, Then Disaster: Rogue Wave Sends Virginia Man Into Boat Cleat One rogue wave changed everything. TJ Hartney was heading out to fish for cobia with friends in Virginia on Saturday, Aug. 8, when their boat hit the wave, throwing him off balance and sending him sliding down the gunwale, according to his family. Then came the impact. Hartney was impaled by a cleat on the boat, causing a severe injury to his right arm, his family said. The fishing trip was over. A much longer journey was just beginning. Because of the severity of his injuries, Hartney was rushed to the emergency room at Virginia Beach General, where he has already undergone one surgery,…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Firefighters Pushed Through Heavy Smoke Then Came An 8-Foot Surprise At Virginia Middle School Firefighters Pushed Through Heavy Smoke Then Came An 8-Foot Surprise At Virginia Middle School
Firefighters Pushed Through Heavy Smoke Then Came An 8-Foot Surprise At Virginia Middle School Firefighters battling a classroom blaze in Virginia early on Thursday had to deal with one very large wrinkle. An 8-foot python. Crews were called to Forest Middle School in Bedford County at approximately 12:45 a.m. after a fire alarm sounded, according to fire officials. The fire in Virginia. Forest Fire Department Crews arrived to find water pouring from the second floor, flames visible inside, and smoke showing through the windows. Then things got a little wild. Firefighters secured a water supply and began forcing their way inside as additional crews arrived and stretched ho…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Lexington Park, MD
Breaking News
$98K THC Haul Uncovered During Raids At Three Southern Maryland Smoke Shops, Sheriff Says $98K THC Haul Uncovered During Raids At Three Southern Maryland Smoke Shops, Sheriff Says
$98K THC Haul Uncovered During Raids At Three Southern Maryland Smoke Shops, Sheriff Says Nearly $100,000 worth of illicit cannabis and THC products just disappeared from Maryland store shelves. More than 4,600 THC products and 1,263 grams of cannabis flower were seized on Tuesday, Aug. 11, when investigators raided three tobacco and smoke shops across St. Mary's County as part of a crackdown on unlicensed cannabis sales, the sheriff's office announced Thursday. The combined retail value of the haul: $98,072.23. And investigators weren't looking in just one place. Search warrants were executed at Point Lookout Tobacco in Callaway, Cloud Smoke Shop in California, and a Tobacco …

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Reston, VA
Breaking News
Daycare Teacher Accused Of Assaulting 3-Year-Old Boy In Reston: Police Daycare Teacher Accused Of Assaulting 3-Year-Old Boy In Reston: Police
Daycare Teacher Accused Of Assaulting 3-Year-Old Boy In Reston: Police A teacher at a Northern Virginia daycare facility is facing charges for allegedly assaulting a young child, police say. Jaspal Bharaj, 61, was arrested on a misdemeanor charge following an investigation into the abuse of a 3-year-old boy in Reston, the Fairfax County Police Department announced on Thursday, Aug. 13. Last week, detectives from the department were called to Bright Horizons Daycare in the 11400 block of Commerce Park Drive in Reston to investigate reports of an assault. Detectives determined that Bharaj, while working as a teacher at the facility, assaulted a child …

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Prev Page 1 of 3868 1 2 3 4 5 Next
1 - 10 of 38,675 articles