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

Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Caught On Camera: DC Man Scrambles Through Building With Gun After Killing Girlfriend, Feds Say Caught On Camera: DC Man Scrambles Through Building With Gun After Killing Girlfriend, Feds Say Caught On Camera: DC Man Scrambles Through Building With Gun After Killing Girlfriend, Feds Say
Caught On Camera: DC Man Scrambles Through Building With Gun After Killing Girlfriend, Feds Say A DC man was caught on camera scrambling through an apartment building with a gun after shooting his girlfriend in the head. Tyjuan Bazemore, 35, was seen repeatedly running up and down the stairs of a 16th Street apartment building after killing 27-year-old Nyesha Walden-Hatcher on Feb. 2, prosecutors said. Tyjuan Bazemore running towards the staircase with a black handgun. US Attorney's Office He later put on shoes and a hoodie, tried to knock down a surveillance camera, and fled. He wasn't swift enough. Authorities tracked Bazemore to Connecticut, where he was apprehended and e…

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by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
Your Community
Last Seen Getting Gas, Found Shot Dead: Virginia Woman's Murder Still Unsolved After 38 Years Last Seen Getting Gas, Found Shot Dead: Virginia Woman's Murder Still Unsolved After 38 Years Last Seen Getting Gas, Found Shot Dead: Virginia Woman's Murder Still Unsolved After 38 Years
Last Seen Getting Gas, Found Shot Dead: Virginia Woman's Murder Still Unsolved After 38 Years For 38 years, the killer who shot a 20-year-old Virginia woman twice in the head has remained unidentified, leaving behind an abandoned car, a trail of unanswered questions, and a family still desperate to know what happened. Tammy Thorpe was found dead along a gravel lane off Route 17 outside Warrenton on Oct. 23, 1988, just hours after she was last seen getting gas in town.  On the 38th anniversary of her murder, Virginia State Police and the Fauquier County Sheriff's Office renewed their appeal for information that could finally crack the decades-old cold case. Thorpe had attended …

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by Zak Failla
Greenbelt, MD
Breaking News
Woman Found Dead In Roadway After Late-Night PG County Crash Shuts Down Traffic For Hours Woman Found Dead In Roadway After Late-Night PG County Crash Shuts Down Traffic For Hours Woman Found Dead In Roadway After Late-Night PG County Crash Shuts Down Traffic For Hours
Woman Found Dead In Roadway After Late-Night PG County Crash Shuts Down Traffic For Hours A woman was struck and killed by a vehicle along a busy Maryland roadway overnight, authorities confirmed. Officers from the Prince George's County Police Department were called to the 8800 block of Greenbelt Road near Goddard Road at approximately 11:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 23, to investigate a reported pedestrian crash. When officers arrived, they found the woman lying in the roadway. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the vehicle involved remained at the scene and is cooperating with investigators, police said. Greenbelt Road was closed near Goddard Road for several ho…

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by Zak Failla
Hagerstown, MD
Breaking News
Firefighters Called For Help At Hagerstown Apartment Fire Before Deadly Police Shooting Firefighters Called For Help At Hagerstown Apartment Fire Before Deadly Police Shooting Firefighters Called For Help At Hagerstown Apartment Fire Before Deadly Police Shooting
Firefighters Called For Help At Hagerstown Apartment Fire Before Deadly Police Shooting An apartment fire in Maryland took a deadly turn when a man encountered by firefighters ran from the building and was fatally shot by responding police officers. The deadly encounter unfolded at approximately 4:50 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 23, when Hagerstown firefighters responded to an apartment fire in the unit block of Randolph Avenue and encountered a man inside, prompting them to request assistance from police. According to the Maryland Attorney General's Office, responding officers established a perimeter around the building before the man ran outside toward them, prompting officers to is…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Sleeping DC Man Set Ablaze In Deadly Sidewalk Attack That Ended With Killer Behind Bars Sleeping DC Man Set Ablaze In Deadly Sidewalk Attack That Ended With Killer Behind Bars Sleeping DC Man Set Ablaze In Deadly Sidewalk Attack That Ended With Killer Behind Bars
Sleeping DC Man Set Ablaze In Deadly Sidewalk Attack That Ended With Killer Behind Bars A man sleeping on a DC sidewalk was set ablaze in a vicious late-night attack, but managed to get to his feet and walk toward help before dying from his burns two days later. More than six years after the deadly attack along H Street NE, D’Aundrey Scott, 32, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for a late-night arson spree that killed 62-year-old Darryl Finney and nearly injured another man, federal prosecutors announced on Friday, Oct. 23. The violence began shortly after midnight on May 13, 2020, when Scott approached a man lying on the sidewalk in the 1300 block of H Street NE, accor…

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by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
Breaking News
Transgender Virginia Sex Offender's Disturbing Webcam Scheme Targeted Boys As Young As 10: Feds Transgender Virginia Sex Offender's Disturbing Webcam Scheme Targeted Boys As Young As 10: Feds Transgender Virginia Sex Offender's Disturbing Webcam Scheme Targeted Boys As Young As 10: Feds
Transgender Virginia Sex Offender's Disturbing Webcam Scheme Targeted Boys As Young As 10: Feds A transgender Virginia sex offender used her exposed breasts to deceive boys as young as 10 into performing sexually explicit acts on camera, federal prosecutors said. Joseph Downing Barnes Jr., 35, of Virginia Beach, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison after recording the encounters, years after a previous conviction for distributing child sexual abuse material, prosecutors announced on Friday, Oct. 23. According to court documents, Barnes engaged in webcam conversations with boys between approximately 10 and 15 years old, using deception to persuade them to engage in sexually expl…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Man Charged With Murder Of 7-Month-Old DC Boy More Than 3 Years After His Death: Police Man Charged With Murder Of 7-Month-Old DC Boy More Than 3 Years After His Death: Police Man Charged With Murder Of 7-Month-Old DC Boy More Than 3 Years After His Death: Police
Man Charged With Murder Of 7-Month-Old DC Boy More Than 3 Years After His Death: Police More than three years after 7-month-old King Phelps died from blunt force trauma in DC, a 29-year-old man has been charged with his murder. Metropolitan Police Department officers were called to the 1300 block of Morris Road SE at approximately 2:18 a.m. on Thursday, March 16, 2023, where they found the infant unconscious and unresponsive. DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel responded, but King showed no signs of life and was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which determined that he died from complications of b…

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by Zak Failla
Stafford, VA
Breaking News
Man Accused Of Decapitating Quantico Iwo Jima Statue Has Surprising Immigration History Man Accused Of Decapitating Quantico Iwo Jima Statue Has Surprising Immigration History Man Accused Of Decapitating Quantico Iwo Jima Statue Has Surprising Immigration History
Man Accused Of Decapitating Quantico Iwo Jima Statue Has Surprising Immigration History The man accused of taking a sledgehammer to a Virginia war memorial and knocking the head off a Marine statue was once protected from deportation, federal officials say. Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano, 27, of Stafford, is a Mexican national who previously received protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which has since expired, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The revelation comes two days after Maldonado Soriano was arrested for allegedly attacking the Iwo Jima memorial near Marine Corps Base Quantico, causing damage estimated in the hu…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Deadly 7-Eleven Standoff: New Video Reveals Final Confrontation With Arlington Police Deadly 7-Eleven Standoff: New Video Reveals Final Confrontation With Arlington Police Deadly 7-Eleven Standoff: New Video Reveals Final Confrontation With Arlington Police
Deadly 7-Eleven Standoff: New Video Reveals Final Confrontation With Arlington Police Newly released bodycam footage captures the tense final moments of a nearly three-hour standoff inside a Virginia 7-Eleven, where a knife-wielding man was shot and killed by police after officers forced their way into a barricaded back room. Arlington County Police released the footage on Friday, Oct. 23, showing portions of the confrontation that led to the death of 33-year-old Shawn Valn inside the convenience store on Columbia Pike near South Monroe Street on May 8. The video, presented during a press conference by Police Chief Andy Penn, shows officers in tactical gear preparing to brea…

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by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
Your Community
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger Questions DOJ Timing Of Sen. Louise Lucas Drug Charges Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger Questions DOJ Timing Of Sen. Louise Lucas Drug Charges Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger Questions DOJ Timing Of Sen. Louise Lucas Drug Charges
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger Questions DOJ Timing Of Sen. Louise Lucas Drug Charges Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger is taking aim at the Justice Department over its timing of a sweeping federal indictment against one of the state's most powerful lawmakers, questioning why prosecutors brought the case just days before a major election. The criticism comes after federal prosecutors charged Portsmouth Sen. L. Louise Lucas, 82, with leading an alleged multimillion-dollar marijuana trafficking and money laundering operation involving family members, including her two daughters and grandson. Spanberger weighed in, hours after the charges were announced, defending Lucas' right t…

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by Zak Failla
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