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

Waldorf, MD
Breaking News
Rabid Skunk Confirmed In Charles County As Officials Warn Pet Owners Ahead Of Free Clinics Rabid Skunk Confirmed In Charles County As Officials Warn Pet Owners Ahead Of Free Clinics Rabid Skunk Confirmed In Charles County As Officials Warn Pet Owners Ahead Of Free Clinics
Rabid Skunk Confirmed In Charles County As Officials Warn Pet Owners Ahead Of Free Clinics A rabid skunk is putting a Maryland community on alert. The animal tested positive for rabies on Monday, Sept. 28 after being found near Ryceville Road and Pudges Place in Charlotte Hall, according to the Charles County Department of Health. The positive test prompted health officials to remind residents to steer clear of wildlife and unfamiliar animals, particularly if they are behaving strangely. Rabies is most commonly transmitted through the bite or scratch of an infected animal. Skunks are among several wild animals capable of passing the virus to pets, along with raccoons, foxes and …

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
DC Felon Fired 3 Times At Scooter Rider Before Raid Turned Up Loaded Guns, Drugs, Feds Say DC Felon Fired 3 Times At Scooter Rider Before Raid Turned Up Loaded Guns, Drugs, Feds Say DC Felon Fired 3 Times At Scooter Rider Before Raid Turned Up Loaded Guns, Drugs, Feds Say
DC Felon Fired 3 Times At Scooter Rider Before Raid Turned Up Loaded Guns, Drugs, Feds Say A passing scooter rider suddenly had three bullets coming his way in DC. Now, Cornelius Welch, 28, has been sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for the November 2025 shooting, which unfolded in broad daylight outside the Benning Courts apartment complex. The shooting was reported around 4:15 p.m. on Nov. 22 in the 1700 block of Benning Road NE. Welch at the Benning Courts apartment building in a surveillance photo captured the day of the shooting.   US Attorney's Office Surveillance cameras captured an unidentified person riding a scooter along the sidewalk as Welch …

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by Zak Failla
Annapolis, MD
Breaking News
‘Clearly Didn’t Get The Message’: Annapolis Man Busted With Child Porn While On Probation ‘Clearly Didn’t Get The Message’: Annapolis Man Busted With Child Porn While On Probation ‘Clearly Didn’t Get The Message’: Annapolis Man Busted With Child Porn While On Probation
‘Clearly Didn’t Get The Message’: Annapolis Man Busted With Child Porn While On Probation Matthew James Freeto couldn't help himself. Again. Now, the Maryland man is facing decades in prison for his latest child pornography conviction. The 36-year-old Freeto pleaded guilty to eight counts of possession of child pornography on Wednesday, Sept. 30, and he was sentenced to 80 years in prison, with 18 years to serve. The case began on July 18, 2025, when Anne Arundel County Police received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that traced back to Google. Google had flagged numerous suspected images depicting children engaged in sex acts or sexually…

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by Zak Failla
Fairfax, VA
Breaking News
ICE Arrests Man Accused Of Sexually Assaulting, Secretly Filming Children In Fairfax County ICE Arrests Man Accused Of Sexually Assaulting, Secretly Filming Children In Fairfax County ICE Arrests Man Accused Of Sexually Assaulting, Secretly Filming Children In Fairfax County
ICE Arrests Man Accused Of Sexually Assaulting, Secretly Filming Children In Fairfax County Oscar Evaristo Nunez was back in custody, but not on the charges that first landed him behind bars. More than a year after his arrest on allegations involving the sexual assault and secret filming of children in Virginia, Nunez was arrested by ICE agents on Tuesday, Sept. 15, during a targeted enforcement operation, the Department of Homeland Security announced on Wednesday, Sept. 30. Nunez, a Honduran national, had initially been arrested in Fairfax County on Aug. 27, 2025, on five charges involving minors, according to DHS. They included three counts of aggravated sexual battery, two of …

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by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
Breaking News
CBP Says The Sinks Were Fake, The Rugs Were Flammable: Inside A Nearly $1M Virginia Haul CBP Says The Sinks Were Fake, The Rugs Were Flammable: Inside A Nearly $1M Virginia Haul CBP Says The Sinks Were Fake, The Rugs Were Flammable: Inside A Nearly $1M Virginia Haul
CBP Says The Sinks Were Fake, The Rugs Were Flammable: Inside A Nearly $1M Virginia Haul Somewhere between the fake sinks and the flammable rugs, Virginia customs officers completed quite the September shopping list. Five shipments worth nearly $856,000 were seized at the Port of Norfolk this month, running the gamut from counterfeit certifications and potentially unsafe carpets to hundreds of boxes of shirts imported using someone else's identity, according to US Customs and Border Protection. And apparently, nothing was too mundane to raise a red flag. The latest catch came on Tuesday, Sept. 29, when officers recovered 697 cartons of dry-fit T-shirts shipped from Morocco and…

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by Zak Failla
Fredericksburg, VA
Your Community
He Got Lost On A Walk, Sat Down To Wait: Virginia Drone Found Him In The Darkness He Got Lost On A Walk, Sat Down To Wait: Virginia Drone Found Him In The Darkness He Got Lost On A Walk, Sat Down To Wait: Virginia Drone Found Him In The Darkness
He Got Lost On A Walk, Sat Down To Wait: Virginia Drone Found Him In The Darkness He knew he was lost. So he stopped walking and waited for someone to find him. That help came from above in Fauquier County late Tuesday night, Sept. 29, when a sheriff's deputy used a drone and thermal imaging to spot a missing 65-year-old man sitting in a heavily wooded area hours after he left home for a walk. The search began around 10 p.m. on Mountjoy Road in Marshall after a relative reported the man missing, according to the Fauquier County Sheriff's Office. He had last been seen while it was still daylight. The man was enrolled in the sheriff's office's Project Lifesaver program, …

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by Zak Failla
College Park, MD
Obituaries
Veteran, Championship Coach Brian Parham, UMD Fixture, Dies At 57 After Sudden Diagnosis Veteran, Championship Coach Brian Parham, UMD Fixture, Dies At 57 After Sudden Diagnosis Veteran, Championship Coach Brian Parham, UMD Fixture, Dies At 57 After Sudden Diagnosis
Veteran, Championship Coach Brian Parham, UMD Fixture, Dies At 57 After Sudden Diagnosis For more than 25 years, Brian Patrick Parham was one of the people quietly looking out for others. Then everything changed in a matter of weeks. The Maryland military veteran, championship coach, husband and father from Waldorf died on Wednesday, Sept. 23, following what the University of Maryland Police Department described as a "very brief but courageous battle" with a recently diagnosed illness. Parham was 57. His father-in-law, Michael McNair, said Parham died from cancer, leaving behind his wife, Traci, and children who knew him far differently than the thousands of people who crossed…

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by Zak Failla
Temple Hills-Camp Springs, MD
Breaking News
Driver Killed In Two-Vehicle Crash In Temple Hills: Police (DEVELOPING) Driver Killed In Two-Vehicle Crash In Temple Hills: Police (DEVELOPING) Driver Killed In Two-Vehicle Crash In Temple Hills: Police (DEVELOPING)
Driver Killed In Two-Vehicle Crash In Temple Hills: Police (Developing) A two-vehicle crash turned deadly on a busy Maryland roadway on Wednesday afternoon. Officers were called to the 4400 block of Branch Avenue in Temple Hills at approximately 2:45 p.m. on Sept. 30, where two vehicles had collided, according to Prince George’s County Police. One of the drivers, a man whose name has not been released, was rushed to an area hospital, where he died a short time later. The driver of the second vehicle was not injured. Investigators with the department’s Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit remained at the scene Wednesday afternoon working to determine wha…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
DC Man Lured Teen Into Car, Then Used Her Phone To Target Her 14-Year-Old Friend, Feds Say DC Man Lured Teen Into Car, Then Used Her Phone To Target Her 14-Year-Old Friend, Feds Say DC Man Lured Teen Into Car, Then Used Her Phone To Target Her 14-Year-Old Friend, Feds Say
DC Man Lured Teen Into Car, Then Used Her Phone To Target Her 14-Year-Old Friend, Feds Say A 23-year-old District man who lured a teen girl into his vehicle and held her against her will is now going to be held behind bars against his will. Keishawn Johnson, who prosecutors say "terrorized two children," has been sentenced to 204 months in prison after a harrowing incident involving two young girls in DC, according to federal authorities. According to court documents, in September 2024, Johnson tricked a 15-year-old girl into getting into his car in the District by falsely telling her that her 14-year-old friend was inside. Johnson then held the girl against her will and demande…

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by Zak Failla
College Park, MD
Breaking News
Fake 'Rifle,' Real Charges: Masked Driver Held Without Bond After UMD Campus Scare Fake 'Rifle,' Real Charges: Masked Driver Held Without Bond After UMD Campus Scare Fake 'Rifle,' Real Charges: Masked Driver Held Without Bond After UMD Campus Scare
Fake 'Rifle,' Real Charges: Masked Driver Held Without Bond After UMD Campus Scare The masked man behind a bizarre scare at a Maryland college campus now has a name, a mugshot and a lengthy list of charges. District resident Christopher Alongzo Garner, 40, was being held without bond after his arrest on Tuesday, Sept. 29, following a morning of alarming calls at the University of Maryland in College Park. It started around 9:24 a.m., when Prince George's County dispatchers alerted campus police to a white Dodge van being driven aggressively through the area. The driver was masked. And witnesses thought he had a rifle. More calls followed as the van made its way onto ca…

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by Zak Failla
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