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

Woodbridge, VA
Breaking News
Belt Buckle Beating Leaves Man Hospitalized After Woodbridge Restaurant Argument: Police Belt Buckle Beating Leaves Man Hospitalized After Woodbridge Restaurant Argument: Police
Belt Buckle Beating Leaves Man Hospitalized After Woodbridge Restaurant Argument: Police Talk about getting belted. A late-night argument inside a Virginia restaurant took a bizarre turn when a patron allegedly pulled off his belt and used the buckle to beat another man before taking off, police said. Officers were called to Almita’s Restaurant at 13418 Occoquan Road in Woodbridge shortly after 1 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 14, after the unusual encounter left a 30-year-old man injured. Police say the victim was inside the restaurant when he was approached by a man he didn’t know. Whatever was said between the two apparently struck a nerve. The verbal altercation escalated, and th…

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by Zak Failla
Annapolis, MD
Breaking News
Maryland Helicopter Crews Train To Pluck Stranded Animals From Places Rescuers Can't Reach Maryland Helicopter Crews Train To Pluck Stranded Animals From Places Rescuers Can't Reach
Maryland Helicopter Crews Train To Pluck Stranded Animals From Places Rescuers Can't Reach Not every rescue comes with two legs. Maryland helicopter crews spent Wednesday, Sept. 9, at Aberdeen Proving Ground learning how to reach and evacuate animals when disaster leaves them stranded somewhere traditional ground crews cannot go. The exercise brought together the Maryland Helicopter Aquatic Response Team, Maryland State Police Aviation Command, Maryland Army National Guard, Maryland Task Force 1 and Harford County Animal Control. The mission was straightforward: prepare for the animals that can get caught in the same floods, storms and other natural or man-made disasters that se…

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by Zak Failla
Annapolis, MD
Breaking News
115 MPH, 115 Months: Maryland Fugitive Gets Matching Prison Term After I-81 Chase: DOJ 115 MPH, 115 Months: Maryland Fugitive Gets Matching Prison Term After I-81 Chase: DOJ
115 MPH, 115 Months: Maryland Fugitive Gets Matching Prison Term After I-81 Chase: DOJ One month behind bars for every mile per hour. A Philly fugitive wanted out of Maryland who hit 115 mph while fleeing police in Virginia will now spend 115 months in federal prison, prosecutors announced on Wednesday, Sept. 16. Corey Frances Potter, 30, was sentenced following a February chase on I-81 that tore through a work zone before ending with his vehicle overturned in the median in Rockingham County. And what investigators found after the crash only made things worse. Potter was heading north from Roanoke toward Winchester when law enforcement caught up with him and attempted a tra…

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by Zak Failla
Silver Spring, MD
Breaking News
Silver Spring Driver Hit 84 MPH Before Killing Elderly Woman Heading Home From Church Silver Spring Driver Hit 84 MPH Before Killing Elderly Woman Heading Home From Church
Silver Spring Driver Hit 84 MPH Before Killing Elderly Woman Heading Home From Church Nineteen years of Jesica Argueta's sentence won't be spent behind bars. The 24-year-old Maryland driver who was going more than twice the speed limit when she caused a crash that killed an 85-year-old woman heading home from church has been ordered to serve just one year in prison. Jesica Argueta, 24, of Silver Spring, was sentenced on Wednesday, Sept. 16, to 20 years, with all but one year suspended, following her guilty plea in Montgomery County Circuit Court. The sentence comes more than a year after a violent morning rush-hour crash that left Josephine Gieske fighting for her life. …

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by Zak Failla
Reston, VA
Breaking News
Covered In Blood, Dog Hair: Reston Man Stabbed His Dog 14 Times, Sheriff Says Covered In Blood, Dog Hair: Reston Man Stabbed His Dog 14 Times, Sheriff Says
Covered In Blood, Dog Hair: Reston Man Stabbed His Dog 14 Times, Sheriff Says A 34-year-old Virginia man whose dog jumped out of his vehicle in Maryland is facing charges after putting the animal down by stabbing it more than a dozen times. Deputies from the Frederick County Sheriff's Office were met with a grisly scene early on Thursday morning, when they found Reston resident Erfan Behnam on the side of the road covered in blood and dog hair. Shortly before 2 a.m. on Sept. 17, deputies were called to the 7900 block of Hollow Road when a passerby reported a disabled vehicle along the roadside with a driver who claimed he had run over his dog, killing it. The t…

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by Zak Failla
Germantown, MD
Breaking News
Teen Arrested After Armed Robbery Reported Inside Northwest High School: Police (DEVELOPING) Teen Arrested After Armed Robbery Reported Inside Northwest High School: Police (DEVELOPING)
Teen Arrested After Armed Robbery Reported Inside Northwest High School: Police (Developing) A juvenile was arrested after an armed robbery was reported inside a Maryland high school on Thursday afternoon, police said. Montgomery County Police officers were called to Northwest High School in Germantown at approximately 12:35 p.m. on Sept. 17 for the reported robbery. Around the same time, a student told a staff member that another student had a gun inside a school bathroom and had shown the weapon to another student, according to a message Principal Scott Smith sent to Northwest families. Staff and security responded and contacted the police. As they approached the bathroom, the …

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by Zak Failla
Gaithersburg, MD
Breaking News
Vehicle Fire, Debris Shut Eastbound ICC As Drivers Squeeze By On Shoulder In Montgomery County Vehicle Fire, Debris Shut Eastbound ICC As Drivers Squeeze By On Shoulder In Montgomery County
Vehicle Fire, Debris Shut Eastbound ICC As Drivers Squeeze By On Shoulder In Montgomery County Drivers were squeezing past trouble on the shoulder of a busy Maryland highway Thursday afternoon. A vehicle fire shut down all three eastbound lanes of the Intercounty Connector past Layhill Road in Montgomery County shortly before noon on Sept. 17, according to Maryland transportation officials. The incident was reported at approximately 11:55 a.m. and involved one vehicle. As responders worked at the scene, MATOC reported debris in the roadway and warned that delays were building with all eastbound travel lanes blocked. Silver Spring, MD - Aerial of the scene of a reported vehicle f…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Gunman Steals DC Artist Shady Rose's Scooter, Leaving Them Without Ride To Work, Shows Gunman Steals DC Artist Shady Rose's Scooter, Leaving Them Without Ride To Work, Shows
Gunman Steals DC Artist Shady Rose's Scooter, Leaving Them Without Ride To Work, Shows A DC artist was left without their main mode of transportation after being robbed at gunpoint of the scooter they relied on to get to work and shows. Shady Rose, known to friends as Nana, had their black Buddy scooter forcefully stolen during what a friend described as a violent robbery. In response, Yousef Karim set up a GoFundMe campaign for Rose, which quickly garnered the community's attention. The fundraiser does not specify when or where the robbery happened, and authorities have not publicly announced an arrest in connection with the theft. For Rose, however, the scooter was more t…

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by Zak Failla
Indian Head-Nanjemoy, MD
Breaking News
Lexus, Mercedes Torched Outside Indian Head Home In Suspected Arson: Officials Lexus, Mercedes Torched Outside Indian Head Home In Suspected Arson: Officials
Lexus, Mercedes Torched Outside Indian Head Home In Suspected Arson: Officials Someone apparently wanted these cars burned. A Lexus and Mercedes were found engulfed in flames outside a Maryland home early Thursday, Sept. 17, in what investigators believe was an intentionally set fire. The Indian Head Volunteer Fire Department was called to 10 Jameson Court in Charles County shortly before 1:30 a.m., according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal. Waiting for the four responding firefighters were a Lexus LS400 and Mercedes C240 burning in the parking area outside the residence. It took approximately 20 minutes to bring the one-alarm fire under control. Nobody was inju…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Man Faces Murder Charge After Infant Killed With Traumatic Injuries In DC: Police Man Faces Murder Charge After Infant Killed With Traumatic Injuries In DC: Police
Man Faces Murder Charge After Infant Killed With Traumatic Injuries In DC: Police More than a month after 2-month-old Khamyah Honesty was killed, police say they have made an arrest. Demetrius Beatty, 40, was tracked down by members of the Capitol Area Regional Fugitive Task Force on Wednesday, Sept. 16, and arrested on a DC Superior Court warrant, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. The man with no fixed address is now charged with first-degree felony murder and first-degree cruelty to children in Khamyah's death. Police have not said what Beatty's relationship was to the 2-month-old girl, though detectives said the killing had "domestic overtones." First…

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by Zak Failla
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