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

McLean, VA
Breaking News
Two-Alarm Fire Rips Through Fairfax County Home, Spreads From Garage To Attic (DEVELOPING) Two-Alarm Fire Rips Through Fairfax County Home, Spreads From Garage To Attic (DEVELOPING) Two-Alarm Fire Rips Through Fairfax County Home, Spreads From Garage To Attic (DEVELOPING)
Two-Alarm Fire Rips Through Fairfax County Home, Spreads From Garage To Attic (Developing) A Virginia home went up in flames Tuesday night, with the fire quickly working its way from the garage to the attic. Firefighters were called to Stirrup Cup Lane near Old Stable Road in McLean at around 7:15 p.m. on Sept. 29, where they were met by heavy flames tearing through the garage of the two-story home. They didn't stay there long. The fire had already spread upstairs and into the attic, forcing Fairfax County firefighters to call for a second alarm as more crews were brought to the scene. View this post on Instagram Everyone inside m…

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by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
Breaking News
Alexandria Girl, 16, Sole Survivor Of Stolen Car Crash That Killed 3 Teens After Police Chase Alexandria Girl, 16, Sole Survivor Of Stolen Car Crash That Killed 3 Teens After Police Chase Alexandria Girl, 16, Sole Survivor Of Stolen Car Crash That Killed 3 Teens After Police Chase
Alexandria Girl, 16, Sole Survivor Of Stolen Car Crash That Killed 3 Teens After Police Chase The deadly crash of a stolen Maryland car is coming into clearer focus. Two 16-year-old boys from Silver Spring were among three teens killed early Monday, Sept. 28, after their driver crashed during a brief police pursuit on I-395 in Virginia, State Police announced in an update Tuesday night. A 17-year-old boy whose hometown remains unknown died at the scene, while the two Silver Spring teens were rushed to area hospitals, where they later died. A fourth passenger, a 16-year-old Alexandria girl, survived and remained hospitalized in serious but stable condition Tuesday. The new details …

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by Zak Failla
College Park, MD
Breaking News
Masked Driver Waved 'Rifle' From Van On UMD Campus Before Police Made Surprising Discovery Masked Driver Waved 'Rifle' From Van On UMD Campus Before Police Made Surprising Discovery Masked Driver Waved 'Rifle' From Van On UMD Campus Before Police Made Surprising Discovery
Masked Driver Waved 'Rifle' From Van On UMD Campus Before Police Made Surprising Discovery It looked like the kind of morning that could get much worse in a hurry. A masked driver was spotted cruising through the University of Maryland campus on Tuesday, Sept. 29, allegedly driving aggressively and waving what appeared to be a rifle out the window of a white Dodge van. The first call came in around 9:24 a.m., when Prince George's County dispatchers alerted University of Maryland Police about the van. Then more calls started coming in. Campus cameras later showed the van entering through North Gate at Baltimore Avenue and Campus Drive before heading west on Campus Drive and pass…

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by Zak Failla
Sterling, VA
Breaking News
Park View HS Fentanyl Suspect Waded Across Rio Grande Into US, Now ICE Is Waiting For Him Park View HS Fentanyl Suspect Waded Across Rio Grande Into US, Now ICE Is Waiting For Him Park View HS Fentanyl Suspect Waded Across Rio Grande Into US, Now ICE Is Waiting For Him
Park View HS Fentanyl Suspect Waded Across Rio Grande Into US, Now ICE Is Waiting For Him Isaac Melendez-Carranza's path to a Virginia jail cell apparently began in the Rio Grande a decade ago. The 31-year-old Sterling man accused of dealing fentanyl connected to overdoses involving Park View High School students crossed the river from Mexico into the US in 2016, according to ICE, which has now lodged a detainer against him. Melendez-Carranza has been behind bars in Loudoun County since Aug. 20, when deputies arrested him following an investigation into suspected fentanyl dealing tied to student overdoses in May. Investigators seized suspected narcotics and cash during the bust.…

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by Zak Failla
Rockville, MD
Breaking News
Rockville Man Signed Graphic Threats To 20+ Victims With Names Of Mass Murderers: DOJ Rockville Man Signed Graphic Threats To 20+ Victims With Names Of Mass Murderers: DOJ Rockville Man Signed Graphic Threats To 20+ Victims With Names Of Mass Murderers: DOJ
Rockville Man Signed Graphic Threats To 20+ Victims With Names Of Mass Murderers: DOJ Justin Dynlacht vacillated between threats to kill, sexually abuse, and torture employees at a Delaware business, even throwing in a racist message The 57-year-old Rockville resident was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison following what has been described by prosecutors as "a campaign of violent, graphic threats against at least 25 people and their families."  According to court documents, Dynlacht sent more than 20 emails, faxes, and letters between November 2022 and April 2024 to employees of the Delaware company that steadily grew more violent. Prosecutors say Dynla…

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by Zak Failla
Stafford, VA
Breaking News
Massage Spa Burglar Pepper-Sprayed Employees When They Caught Him In Stafford, Sheriff Says Massage Spa Burglar Pepper-Sprayed Employees When They Caught Him In Stafford, Sheriff Says Massage Spa Burglar Pepper-Sprayed Employees When They Caught Him In Stafford, Sheriff Says
Massage Spa Burglar Pepper-Sprayed Employees When They Caught Him In Stafford, Sheriff Says Elijah Thomas Deane's burglary spree came to a fiery end. He did not want to go down quietly. The 22-year-old Spotsylvania resident is facing a host of charges following a string of similar burglaries that came to an end last week, according to the Stafford County Sheriff's Office. Deane's gambit came to an end on Monday, Sept. 21, when deputies were alerted to a robbery in progress at a massage spa on Chatham Heights Road. Investigators say Deane entered the business and was directed to one of the rooms. He then left the room and began entering other rooms and the employee area. Then th…

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by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
Your Community
10 Virginia Dogs Escaped Chains, Neglect: Now They Need Somewhere To Call Home 10 Virginia Dogs Escaped Chains, Neglect: Now They Need Somewhere To Call Home 10 Virginia Dogs Escaped Chains, Neglect: Now They Need Somewhere To Call Home
10 Virginia Dogs Escaped Chains, Neglect: Now They Need Somewhere To Call Home For some of them, the good life started with something as simple as coming inside. Ten dogs rescued from chains, outdoor pens, abandonment and neglect in Virginia are now getting that chance, and PETA is looking for families willing to make it permanent. The dogs were brought to PETA's Norfolk headquarters following a weeklong relief effort in and around Galax, where fieldworkers teamed with the Twin County Humane Society. Some had spent much of their lives tethered outside. Others were abandoned or came from homes where their owners could no longer properly care for them. Now they're lea…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
17 Charged After Guns Found In Towson Apartment As Police Hunt Shooting Suspect (DEVELOPING) 17 Charged After Guns Found In Towson Apartment As Police Hunt Shooting Suspect (DEVELOPING) 17 Charged After Guns Found In Towson Apartment As Police Hunt Shooting Suspect (DEVELOPING)
17 Charged After Guns Found In Towson Apartment As Police Hunt Shooting Suspect (Developing) A search for answers after a weekend shooting in Maryland led detectives to an apartment packed with people and guns, police said. Seventeen people are now facing weapons charges after Baltimore County Police searched an apartment in the 8000 block of York Road in Towson as part of the investigation into a shooting on Sunday, Sept. 27. Detectives from the department's Violent Crimes Unit recovered several firearms inside the apartment while executing the search warrant, according to police. That discovery led to charges against 15 adults ranging in age from 18 to 31, along with two teens w…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
NJ Man Brought 100+ Explosives To DC Cathedral Before Red Mass: Now He Knows His Fate NJ Man Brought 100+ Explosives To DC Cathedral Before Red Mass: Now He Knows His Fate NJ Man Brought 100+ Explosives To DC Cathedral Before Red Mass: Now He Knows His Fate
NJ Man Brought 100+ Explosives To DC Cathedral Before Red Mass: Now He Knows His Fate Louis Geri didn't show up to negotiate empty-handed. He had big plans after traveling more than 100 miles from New Jersey to DC with broad ambitions. Nearly a year after the Vineland man turned the steps of a DC cathedral into an explosives cache ahead of the annual Red Mass, Geri was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison. The 42-year-old brought more than 100 homemade explosive devices to St. Matthew's Cathedral in the 1700 block of Rhode Island Avenue NW, where Supreme Court justices and other high-ranking government officials were expected the next morning. The defendant …

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by Zak Failla
Hatboro-Horsham, PA
Breaking News
Man Pulls Knife, Starts Cutting Victim's Clothes Off At Hatsboro McDonald's: Police Man Pulls Knife, Starts Cutting Victim's Clothes Off At Hatsboro McDonald's: Police Man Pulls Knife, Starts Cutting Victim's Clothes Off At Hatsboro McDonald's: Police
Man Pulls Knife, Starts Cutting Victim's Clothes Off At Hatsboro McDonald's: Police Zachary Dantz Jenkins did his best to get away. His best wasn't good enough after a strange encounter at a Pennsylvania McDonald's. Hatboro Police say the trouble started on Thursday, Sept. 10, when Jenkins approached a man sitting inside a vehicle at the McDonald's on North York Road. According to investigators, Jenkins instigated a confrontation, pulled out a knife and began cutting off the man's clothing before fleeing with several associates. The incident was reported two days later, and detectives used interviews and surveillance video to identify Jenkins as the suspect, police said. …

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by Zak Failla
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