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

Towson, MD
Breaking News
Diesel Spill Reaches Loch Raven Reservoir Tributary After Baltimore Detention Center Leak Diesel Spill Reaches Loch Raven Reservoir Tributary After Baltimore Detention Center Leak Diesel Spill Reaches Loch Raven Reservoir Tributary After Baltimore Detention Center Leak
Diesel Spill Reaches Loch Raven Reservoir Tributary After Baltimore Detention Center Leak Diesel that escaped from a Maryland detention center has made its way toward one of the Baltimore region’s major reservoirs. The leak was discovered and stopped late Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Baltimore County Detention Center in Towson, where fuel from a backup generator entered the storm drainage system and reached Long Quarter Branch, a tributary of Loch Raven Reservoir. By Monday morning, Sept. 28, responders had also spotted a small amount of fuel and sheen near where the stream enters the reservoir, according to Baltimore County officials. Crews are now working to figure out exactly …

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by Zak Failla
Hagerstown, MD
Breaking News
Passerby Discovers Hagerstown Blaze Before Dozens Of Firefighters Move In: Fire Marshal Passerby Discovers Hagerstown Blaze Before Dozens Of Firefighters Move In: Fire Marshal Passerby Discovers Hagerstown Blaze Before Dozens Of Firefighters Move In: Fire Marshal
Passerby Discovers Hagerstown Blaze Before Dozens Of Firefighters Move In: Fire Marshal A fast-moving fire tore through the upper floors of a Maryland home over the weekend, but everyone inside escaped without injury. Firefighters were called to Corbett Street and East Wilson Boulevard in Hagerstown shortly after 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26, where Engine 5 arrived to find flames showing from the third floor of the three-story multi-family home. That brought a much larger response. As hose lines were pulled into place, crews headed inside to search the building while others attacked the fire. About 60 firefighters ultimately joined the effort, getting the flames under control…

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by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
Breaking News
3 Teens Dead, 4th Critical After Stolen Car Crashes During I-395 Virginia Pursuit (DEVELOPING 3 Teens Dead, 4th Critical After Stolen Car Crashes During I-395 Virginia Pursuit (DEVELOPING 3 Teens Dead, 4th Critical After Stolen Car Crashes During I-395 Virginia Pursuit (DEVELOPING
3 Teens Dead, 4th Critical After Stolen Car Crashes During I-395 Virginia Pursuit (Developing Three teens are dead and a fourth is fighting for their life after a stolen Maryland car crashed during a police pursuit in Virginia early Monday morning. The car, which had been reported stolen out of Prince George's County, was spotted by a Virginia State Police trooper shortly before 12:45 a.m. on Sept. 28 near Stevenson Road and South Walker Street in Alexandria. The driver didn't stop. Instead, the car sped away and headed onto northbound I-395, setting off a pursuit that ended at the Shirlington Road exit. State police said the driver tried to take the ramp at a high rate of speed, …

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by Zak Failla
Abington, PA
Obituaries
Bill Giles, Phillies Legend Who Helped Bring Phanatic To Life, Dies At 92 Bill Giles, Phillies Legend Who Helped Bring Phanatic To Life, Dies At 92 Bill Giles, Phillies Legend Who Helped Bring Phanatic To Life, Dies At 92
Bill Giles, Phillies Legend Who Helped Bring Phanatic To Life, Dies At 92 Few people left phingerprints on the Philadelphia Phillies quite like Bill Giles. Giles, the longtime Phillies executive, former team president and part-owner whose influence stretched well beyond Philadelphia, died at his home in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, on Friday, Sept. 25, the team announced. He was 92. For more than half a century, Giles helped shape what Phillies baseball looked, sounded and felt like. He joined the organization in 1969 as vice president of business operations and was promoted to executive vice president three years later, according to the Phillies. Along the way, Gil…

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by Zak Failla
Suitland, MD
Breaking News
Meet Ice: Husky Stolen From Suitland Home, Held Hostage, Executed In DC Extortion Scheme Meet Ice: Husky Stolen From Suitland Home, Held Hostage, Executed In DC Extortion Scheme Meet Ice: Husky Stolen From Suitland Home, Held Hostage, Executed In DC Extortion Scheme
Meet Ice: Husky Stolen From Suitland Home, Held Hostage, Executed In DC Extortion Scheme The Siberian Husky stolen from his Maryland home, held hostage in an extortion scheme and executed in a DC alley now has a face and a name. Ice. Days after federal prosecutors announced charges against three people accused of using the dog as leverage in a dispute over a vehicle, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro shared a photo of the Husky at the center of the case. The photo shows Ice stretched out on an outdoor chair in a blue harness, staring directly into the camera. “This is Ice, the defenseless Husky who was stolen and executed,” Pirro wrote. “We will speak for Ice and for all the dog…

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by Zak Failla
Silver Spring, MD
Breaking News
Firefighters Rush Into North Kensington Basement, Rescue Unconscious Woman From Fire: Officials Firefighters Rush Into North Kensington Basement, Rescue Unconscious Woman From Fire: Officials Firefighters Rush Into North Kensington Basement, Rescue Unconscious Woman From Fire: Officials
Firefighters Rush Into North Kensington Basement, Rescue Unconscious Woman From Fire: Officials Firefighters raced through a burning Maryland home and found an unconscious woman in the basement Saturday morning. The fire broke out around 8:35 a.m. on Sept. 26 in the 3800 block of Woodridge Avenue in North Kensington, according to a Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson. Crews arrived to find fire and smoke showing from the home, with the blaze concentrated in the basement. Firefighters quickly made their way inside, where they located the woman unconscious and pulled her to safety. Paramedics evaluated and treated her at the scene before rushing her to a burn unit w…

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by Zak Failla
Kensington, MD
Breaking News
How'd It Get There? Car Crosses Tracks, Smashes Signal At Montgomery County MARC Station How'd It Get There? Car Crosses Tracks, Smashes Signal At Montgomery County MARC Station How'd It Get There? Car Crosses Tracks, Smashes Signal At Montgomery County MARC Station
How'd It Get There? Car Crosses Tracks, Smashes Signal At Montgomery County MARC Station A driver took an unexpected detour through a Maryland MARC station on Saturday morning, smashing into railroad equipment before winding up on the other side of the tracks. The unusual crash happened at the Garrett Park station near Rokeby Avenue and Waverly Street on Sept. 26, according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokesperson Pete Piringer. The vehicle struck a signal tower at a railroad crossing that is primarily used by pedestrians, then continued across the railroad right of way. By the time crews arrived, the damaged vehicle was on the other side and sitting close to the trac…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Four Shot After Arlington House Party Dispute Sends Gunman Running: Police (DEVELOPING) Four Shot After Arlington House Party Dispute Sends Gunman Running: Police (DEVELOPING) Four Shot After Arlington House Party Dispute Sends Gunman Running: Police (DEVELOPING)
Four Shot After Arlington House Party Dispute Sends Gunman Running: Police (Developing) Four people were hospitalized after gunfire tore through a Virginia house party overnight. The shooting broke out in the 1600 block of 10th Street South in Arlington, where police say a dispute at the party preceded the violence early Saturday, Sept. 26. Three victims were taken from the scene to an area hospital before a fourth later arrived on their own seeking treatment, according to Arlington County Police. Two men and two women were shot. Police have not released their names, ages, or conditions. The shooter didn't stick around. Police say the suspect took off on foot after the shoo…

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by Zak Failla
Hyattsville, MD
Breaking News
Inside $6M Car Theft Ring That Used Stolen IDs, Key Fobs, Tow Trucks To Swipe Vehicles Inside $6M Car Theft Ring That Used Stolen IDs, Key Fobs, Tow Trucks To Swipe Vehicles Inside $6M Car Theft Ring That Used Stolen IDs, Key Fobs, Tow Trucks To Swipe Vehicles
Inside $6M Car Theft Ring That Used Stolen IDs, Key Fobs, Tow Trucks To Swipe Vehicles A $6 million car theft operation had more than one way to make a vehicle disappear, federal prosecutors say. Maryland resident Deonte Holden, 30, of Hyattsville, and Clifford Flemming Smith Jr., 38, of Columbus, Ohio, were convicted by a federal jury in Virginia on Thursday, Sept. 24, for their roles in a sprawling multi-state scheme involving more than 150 stolen vehicles. And according to prosecutors, the operation went well beyond simply stealing cars off the street. Members of the conspiracy used the identities of real people without their knowledge to buy or attempt to buy new and use…

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by Zak Failla
Annandale, VA
Breaking News
Fake FBI 'Election Security' Agent Brought Glock-Looking Air Pistol To Virginia Polls: Feds Fake FBI 'Election Security' Agent Brought Glock-Looking Air Pistol To Virginia Polls: Feds Fake FBI 'Election Security' Agent Brought Glock-Looking Air Pistol To Virginia Polls: Feds
Fake FBI 'Election Security' Agent Brought Glock-Looking Air Pistol To Virginia Polls: Feds This was one Election Day assignment that never came from headquarters. A Virginia man admitted on Friday, Sept. 25, that he dressed the part, flashed fake credentials and posed as an FBI agent while voters were casting ballots at a Falls Church elementary school during the 2024 federal election, according to federal prosecutors. Alex Chieu Nguyen, 44, of Annandale, pleaded guilty to impersonating a federal officer and possessing imitation federal law enforcement credentials. And prosecutors say he went all-in on the act. On Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, Nguyen rolled up to Timber Lane Elem…

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by Zak Failla
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