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

Reston, VA
Breaking News
Maryland Burglars Preyed On Reston Fire Victims, Stealing Porsche, Guns During Spree: Police Maryland Burglars Preyed On Reston Fire Victims, Stealing Porsche, Guns During Spree: Police Maryland Burglars Preyed On Reston Fire Victims, Stealing Porsche, Guns During Spree: Police
Maryland Burglars Preyed On Reston Fire Victims, Stealing Porsche, Guns During Spree: Police As Virginia families picked up the pieces after devastating house fires, a crew of burglars from Maryland allegedly swooped in to steal what the flames left behind. Four men who crossed state lines to prey on the Virginia victims are facing serious charges following an investigation into fire-damaged homes in the Reston, Fair Oaks, and West Springfield districts, according to the Fairfax County Police Department. The alleged crime spree began in November 2025, when a family returned to their fire-damaged Reston home to discover that someone had broken in and damaged their gun safe. No…

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by Zak Failla
Aberdeen, MD
Breaking News
Two People, Pet Rescued From Third Floor As Aberdeen Apartment Fire Leaves 28 Displaced Two People, Pet Rescued From Third Floor As Aberdeen Apartment Fire Leaves 28 Displaced Two People, Pet Rescued From Third Floor As Aberdeen Apartment Fire Leaves 28 Displaced
Two People, Pet Rescued From Third Floor As Aberdeen Apartment Fire Leaves 28 Displaced Flames were burning below them. Their only way out was with the firefighters coming to their rescue. Two people and their pet were rescued from a third-floor balcony as a late-night apartment fire ripped through a building in Maryland, leaving dozens of residents without a place to call home. The blaze broke out shortly before 10:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 48 E. Bel Air Ave. in Aberdeen, where firefighters arrived to find flames shooting from a first-floor window, according to the Office of the Maryland State Fire Marshal. With reports of people trapped inside, crews immediately we…

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by Zak Failla
Sterling, VA
Breaking News
Infant Left Alone In Running Bathtub Drowns As Sterling Mother Faces Homicide Charge: Sheriff Infant Left Alone In Running Bathtub Drowns As Sterling Mother Faces Homicide Charge: Sheriff Infant Left Alone In Running Bathtub Drowns As Sterling Mother Faces Homicide Charge: Sheriff
Infant Left Alone In Running Bathtub Drowns As Sterling Mother Faces Homicide Charge: Sheriff An infant is dead, and a 30-year-old mother is behind bars in Northern Virginia. Sterling resident Rosellena Pisani is facing serious charges following an investigation into the drowning death of her 8-month-old child, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office. In September, deputies from the sheriff's office were called to assist Loudoun County Fire and Rescue crews with an unresponsive infant. It was later determined the child was left in a bathtub with running water without supervision. At the time of the drowning, three children between the ages of 8 months and 8 years old …

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
'Good Morning, Babe:' Sinister Secret Behind DC Romance Scam That Targeted MD Victims Revealed 'Good Morning, Babe:' Sinister Secret Behind DC Romance Scam That Targeted MD Victims Revealed 'Good Morning, Babe:' Sinister Secret Behind DC Romance Scam That Targeted MD Victims Revealed
'Good Morning, Babe:' Sinister Secret Behind DC Romance Scam That Targeted MD Victims Revealed It started with an attractive woman on a dating app, a few flirtatious messages, and what appeared to be the beginning of an online romance. But for victims in Maryland and across the country, federal investigators say the women were bait, the affection was scripted, and the relationship was designed to drain their cryptocurrency accounts. Six people have been charged in an international fraud operation that used fake dating profiles, rehearsed conversations, and fraudulent investment websites to steal from unsuspecting Americans, the US Attorney's Office in DC announced on Tuesday, Oct. 27…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
He Hunted Homeless Men On DC Streets, Set One Victim On Fire: Now A Jury Has Spoken He Hunted Homeless Men On DC Streets, Set One Victim On Fire: Now A Jury Has Spoken He Hunted Homeless Men On DC Streets, Set One Victim On Fire: Now A Jury Has Spoken
He Hunted Homeless Men On DC Streets, Set One Victim On Fire: Now A Jury Has Spoken A killer who hunted homeless men on the streets of DC has been convicted of murder and hate crimes. Gerald Brevard III, 35, of Washington, DC, was convicted by a jury on Tuesday, Oct. 27, for a series of brutal attacks that left one man dead and two others injured in March 2022. The attacks unfolded over six days, with Brevard targeting men living on the streets of Northeast DC, including one who was sleeping beneath a bridge and another who was lying in bed at his encampment. The violence began on March 3, 2022, when Brevard shot a homeless man who was asleep beneath a bridge on New York …

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by Zak Failla
Fredericksburg, VA
Your Community
$172.1M SALE: Massive Fredericksburg Warehouse Changes Hands As Data Center Boom Continues $172.1M SALE: Massive Fredericksburg Warehouse Changes Hands As Data Center Boom Continues $172.1M SALE: Massive Fredericksburg Warehouse Changes Hands As Data Center Boom Continues
$172.1M Sale: Massive Fredericksburg Warehouse Changes Hands As Data Center Boom Continues A massive Virginia warehouse built to support the booming data center industry has changed hands in a staggering $172.1 million deal, according to the real estate firm that arranged the sale. The nearly 1 million-square-foot facility, known as Capitol 95, is located at 211 Centreport Parkway in Fredericksburg and was purchased by an investment fund managed by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, according to JLL Capital Markets, which announced the transaction on Tuesday, Oct. 27. The sale puts a hefty price tag on a property that was only completed earlier this year, highlighting the grow…

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by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
Breaking News
From Firehouse To Prison: Virginia Firefighter Gets Life For Vile Crimes Against Infant: DOJ From Firehouse To Prison: Virginia Firefighter Gets Life For Vile Crimes Against Infant: DOJ From Firehouse To Prison: Virginia Firefighter Gets Life For Vile Crimes Against Infant: DOJ
From Firehouse To Prison: Virginia Firefighter Gets Life For Vile Crimes Against Infant: DOJ A meth-using former firefighter in Virginia who filmed himself sexually abusing an infant and sharing it online will be trading bunker gear for a prison jumpsuit. For the rest of his life. Suffolk resident Alex Tyler Buenaga, now 33, a former Newport News firefighter, was sentenced to life in prison on Monday, Oct. 26, for producing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and coercing a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, according to federal authorities. Buenaga pleaded guilty earlier this year in connection with illicit videos that were distributed through an instant messaging app. A…

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by Zak Failla
Silver Spring, MD
Breaking News
Silver Spring Man Beat Sleeping Brother-In-Law, 19, To Death, Dumped Body Behind Bus Stop Silver Spring Man Beat Sleeping Brother-In-Law, 19, To Death, Dumped Body Behind Bus Stop Silver Spring Man Beat Sleeping Brother-In-Law, 19, To Death, Dumped Body Behind Bus Stop
Silver Spring Man Beat Sleeping Brother-In-Law, 19, To Death, Dumped Body Behind Bus Stop A Maryland man who sent a chilling message about killing his teenage brother-in-law while he slept has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for beating him to death and dumping his body behind a bus stop. Abraham Luna Perez, 29, of Silver Spring, learned his fate on Tuesday, Oct. 27, nearly two years after the killing of 19-year-old Diego Edilberto Borja Cardona, whose body was found in a wooded area just down the hill from the apartment they shared. A Montgomery County jury convicted Luna Perez of voluntary manslaughter in August, a lesser offense than the first-degree murder charge he ini…

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by Zak Failla
Herndon, VA
Obituaries
'He Never Came Back': Herndon Sister Seeks Help Bringing Dead Brother, 18, To El Salvador 'He Never Came Back': Herndon Sister Seeks Help Bringing Dead Brother, 18, To El Salvador 'He Never Came Back': Herndon Sister Seeks Help Bringing Dead Brother, 18, To El Salvador
'He Never Came Back': Herndon Sister Seeks Help Bringing Dead Brother, 18, To El Salvador A Virginia woman is hoping to bring her 18-year-old brother home to El Salvador for one final goodbye after learning he had been found dead. Jayb Javier Retana Castillo is remembered by his sister, Johana Robles Castillo, as a young man who loved his family and friends and had a bright future ahead of him. "He was a good guy ... He had a bright future ahead of himself," she said. "(He was) an independent person who loved his family and friends." The Herndon woman is asking for help covering the unexpected costs of his funeral and transporting his remains to El Salvador, where the family pl…

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by Zak Failla
Waldorf, MD
Breaking News
120-MPH Chase From Virginia Into La Plata Turns Deadly: Teen Driver Learns Prison Fate 120-MPH Chase From Virginia Into La Plata Turns Deadly: Teen Driver Learns Prison Fate 120-MPH Chase From Virginia Into La Plata Turns Deadly: Teen Driver Learns Prison Fate
120-mph Chase From Virginia Into La Plata Turns Deadly: Teen Driver Learns Prison Fate A 19-year-old who killed a teenager in Southern Maryland while speeding during a police pursuit that began in Virginia will spend decades in prison for the murder of Baxter O'Henry Hubbard. Dominick Jermaine Hawkins, 19, was sentenced to 38 years in prison for felony murder and other offenses, with the possibility of spending the rest of his life behind bars if he violates probation following his release, according to the Charles County State's Attorney's Office. The sentence stems from a deadly pursuit on Dec. 3, 2024, that began after an armed robbery at a Sheetz convenience store in King…

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by Zak Failla
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