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
104 MPH, Lights Out: Virginia DUI Suspect Tried To Lose Deputy In The Dark, Sheriff Says 104 MPH, Lights Out: Virginia DUI Suspect Tried To Lose Deputy In The Dark, Sheriff Says 104 MPH, Lights Out: Virginia DUI Suspect Tried To Lose Deputy In The Dark, Sheriff Says
104 MPH, Lights Out: Virginia DUI Suspect Tried To Lose Deputy In The Dark, Sheriff Says Turning out the lights didn't make him disappear. A Virginia driver accused of blowing through a 60 mph zone at 104 mph allegedly switched off his headlights while trying to get away from a deputy early Saturday, Sept. 26, according to the Fauquier County Sheriff's Office. Shortly after 3:15 a.m., a deputy was heading south on James Madison Highway between Opal and Remington when he spotted a vehicle speeding in the opposite direction. Radar clocked it at 104 mph, investigators said. The deputy crossed the median, activated his lights and siren and headed north after the vehicle. But eve…

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by Zak Failla
Sterling, VA
Breaking News
Former Virginia Death Row Inmate Justin Wolfe Takes New Plea After 25 Years Behind Bars Former Virginia Death Row Inmate Justin Wolfe Takes New Plea After 25 Years Behind Bars Former Virginia Death Row Inmate Justin Wolfe Takes New Plea After 25 Years Behind Bars
Former Virginia Death Row Inmate Justin Wolfe Takes New Plea After 25 Years Behind Bars Twenty-five years behind bars have led to a 25-year sentence for a man who once sat on Virginia's death row. Justin Wolfe received a 28-year prison sentence with three years suspended in Prince William County on Monday, Sept. 28, as prosecutors moved to end a murder case that has spent a quarter-century winding through state and federal courts. Wolfe has already been incarcerated for 25 years, including substantial time on death row and in solitary confinement, according to Commonwealth's Attorney Amy Ashworth. The agreement came after Ashworth's office spent months reexamining the case an…

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by Zak Failla
Severn, MD
Breaking News
29-Year-Old Ejected From Kawasaki In Deadly Severn Motorcycle Crash Identified By Police 29-Year-Old Ejected From Kawasaki In Deadly Severn Motorcycle Crash Identified By Police 29-Year-Old Ejected From Kawasaki In Deadly Severn Motorcycle Crash Identified By Police
29-Year-Old Ejected From Kawasaki In Deadly Severn Motorcycle Crash Identified By Police A motorcyclist killed in an early-morning Maryland crash has been identified. Khanh Minh Nguyen, 29, of Severn, was killed shortly after 4 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26, in a single-vehicle crash at Town Center Boulevard and Jacobs Road in Anne Arundel County, police announced on Monday, Sept. 28. According to investigators, Nguyen was riding a Kawasaki Ninja north on Town Center Boulevard at approximately 4:10 a.m. when he failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway. Nguyen was thrown from the motorcycle. Anne Arundel County Fire Department personnel pronounced him dead at the scene. The de…

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by Zak Failla
Huntingtown, MD
Your Community
From Huntingtown To History: Caroll Spriggs II Takes Oath As Maryland Fire Marshal From Huntingtown To History: Caroll Spriggs II Takes Oath As Maryland Fire Marshal From Huntingtown To History: Caroll Spriggs II Takes Oath As Maryland Fire Marshal
From Huntingtown To History: Caroll Spriggs II Takes Oath As Maryland Fire Marshal Maryland’s history-making State Fire Marshal has officially taken the oath. Caroll H. Spriggs II was sworn in on Monday, Sept. 28, at the Calvert County Administration Building in Prince Frederick, less than two weeks after being appointed to a six-year term leading the Office of the State Fire Marshal. Spriggs, 53, is the first African American to serve as Maryland State Fire Marshal in the department’s 132-year history. The ceremony also brought Spriggs back to familiar territory. Caroll H. Spriggs II Maryland State Police Before rising through the ranks of fire service across M…

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by Zak Failla
Silver Spring, MD
Breaking News
Silver Spring Peace Sentenced After Working Second Federal Job While On The Clock: DOJ Silver Spring Peace Sentenced After Working Second Federal Job While On The Clock: DOJ Silver Spring Peace Sentenced After Working Second Federal Job While On The Clock: DOJ
Silver Spring Peace Sentenced After Working Second Federal Job While On The Clock: DOJ Getting paid for one federal job while doing another has caught up with a former Peace Corps official from Maryland. Evester Edd, 64, of Silver Spring, was sentenced on Monday, Sept. 28, to two years of probation, including three months of home confinement, after admitting he falsified Peace Corps timecards while simultaneously working as a federal contractor. And sometimes he didn't even leave the office to do it. On nine days in 2024, investigators found Edd logged into the Nuclear Regulatory Commission network and performed work for the agency while sitting at his desk inside Peace Corp…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
Stolen Baltimore County SUV Turns Up Torched On Rural Road Across Maryland: Fire Marshal Stolen Baltimore County SUV Turns Up Torched On Rural Road Across Maryland: Fire Marshal Stolen Baltimore County SUV Turns Up Torched On Rural Road Across Maryland: Fire Marshal
Stolen Baltimore County SUV Turns Up Torched On Rural Road Across Maryland: Fire Marshal A stolen SUV out of Baltimore County turned up torched on a rural road across Maryland, and investigators believe someone intentionally set it on fire. The burned-out 2026 Infiniti GX-60 was discovered near the intersection of Hickory Hill Road and Guard Road in Federalsburg shortly after 7 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 28, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal. A passerby spotted the vehicle along the dirt-covered road after the fire had already burned itself out. No firefighters ever made it to the scene. Investigators determined the blaze began inside the passenger compartment and preli…

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by Zak Failla
Rockville, MD
Your Community
Lightning Strikes Five Times: Rockville Deli Sells $250K In Winners From Same Drawing Lightning Strikes Five Times: Rockville Deli Sells $250K In Winners From Same Drawing Lightning Strikes Five Times: Rockville Deli Sells $250K In Winners From Same Drawing
Lightning Strikes Five Times: Rockville Deli Sells $250K In Winners From Same Drawing Something was apparently in the sandwiches at one Maryland deli. Five tickets sold at Ollie’s Beer, Wine & Deli in Rockville each hit for $50,000 during the midday Pick 5 drawing on Tuesday, Sept. 22, according to the Maryland Lottery. Same store. Same drawing. Same $50,000 prize. The five tickets each matched the winning number, 88768, in exact order, turning one Montgomery County deli into the source of a combined $250,000 payday. And apparently Pick 5 was just getting warmed up. Five days later, the Sunday, Sept. 27 evening drawing produced 14 more $50,000 winners when 6…

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by Zak Failla
Columbia, MD
Your Community
She Went To San Diego To See The Sunsets: Maryland Grad Detained By ICE Far From Home She Went To San Diego To See The Sunsets: Maryland Grad Detained By ICE Far From Home She Went To San Diego To See The Sunsets: Maryland Grad Detained By ICE Far From Home
She Went To San Diego To See The Sunsets: Maryland Grad Detained By ICE Far From Home A Maryland college graduate went to California chasing sunsets. She never made it home. Eagla Tilahun, a recent Towson University graduate, was on a graduation trip in San Diego when she was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to friends who are now raising money to get her back to Maryland. Nearly 3,000 miles from home, Tilahun is now being held at a detention center in a state unfamiliar to her, fundraiser organizer Mahielt Hailu said. The trip was supposed to mark a milestone. Tilahun graduated from Towson in the spring with a degree in public health, accordin…

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by Zak Failla
College Park, MD
Breaking News
Towering Flames Rip Through PG County Home, Displacing Family, 3 Dogs (PHOTOS) Towering Flames Rip Through PG County Home, Displacing Family, 3 Dogs (PHOTOS) Towering Flames Rip Through PG County Home, Displacing Family, 3 Dogs (PHOTOS)
Towering Flames Rip Through PG County Home, Displacing Family, 3 Dogs (Photos) A family and their three dogs were displaced after flames tore through the second floor of a Maryland home on Monday afternoon. Firefighters were called to the 2600 block of Swann Wing Court in Springdale at approximately 2:55 p.m. on Sept. 28, according to the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department. Crews arrived to find fire showing from the second floor of the two-story single-family home. The fire was extinguished and no injuries were reported, officials said. The fire in Springdale. Prince George's County Police Two adults, a child and three dogs were displaced and are be…

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by Zak Failla
Laurel, MD
Breaking News
Two Hit-Run Drivers Strike, Kill Same Laurel Man Before Both Fleeing In PG County: Police Two Hit-Run Drivers Strike, Kill Same Laurel Man Before Both Fleeing In PG County: Police Two Hit-Run Drivers Strike, Kill Same Laurel Man Before Both Fleeing In PG County: Police
Two Hit-Run Drivers Strike, Kill Same Laurel Man Before Both Fleeing In PG County: Police A 52-year-old man who was struck and killed by two separate hit-and-run drivers in Maryland has been identified by police. Laurel resident Ernesto Chocoj Caal was walking early on Sunday morning when he was struck by two drivers who took off after hitting him, according to the Prince George's County Police Department. Officers were called around 4:15 a.m. on Sept. 27 to the area of Laurel Bowie Road and Briarwood Drive, where they found Caal in the roadway suffering from traumatic injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene by first responders. Detectives believe Caal was struck by two …

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by Zak Failla
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