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

Leonardtown-California, MD

Breaking News

The Cocaine Made It To Maryland, But The Passengers Didn't Always Make The Flight, Feds Say More than 100 kilograms of cocaine. Commercial flights. Rental cars. Mexican cartel connections. Maryland was the destination for a sprawling cross-country cocaine pipeline that federal prosecutors say operated with help from Mexican drug cartels. Now, the man prosecutors say was pulling the strings and a Dundalk woman who helped keep the cocaine moving have been convicted by a federal jury. Kobie Farmer, 49, of Hollywood, California, and Kenia Rodriguez, 27, of Baltimore County, were the latest members of the sprawling operation to be convicted, joining four co-conspirators already servin…

by Zak Failla

10/31/2026

Manchester-Hampstead, MD

Obituaries

Jack-Of-All-Trades Who Was 'Always There For Others' Killed At Maryland Oil Change Shop A Maryland man who never hesitated to help someone in need is now being remembered for a lifetime of kindness after he was struck and killed on the property of an oil-change business. Ryan Scott Young, 29, of Hampstead, died on Monday after being struck by a vehicle on the property of Valvoline Instant Oil Change in the 300 block of Gorsuch Road, according to the Westminster Police Department. Officers were called to the business shortly after 1 p.m. on Oct. 26 for a reported pedestrian collision. Young suffered fatal injuries, police said. Investigators have not disclosed what led to the …

by Zak Failla

10/31/2026

Leesburg, VA

Breaking News

Three Leesburg Residents Hospitalized After BMW Slams Into SUV In Deadly Halloween Crash A Virginia man was killed when his BMW crossed into oncoming traffic and slammed into an SUV, sending three other people to the hospital early on Halloween morning, police said. Dmitry Vazquez, 33, of Manassas, was pronounced dead at the scene of the two-vehicle crash in Prince William County on Saturday, Oct. 31. Officers were called to the intersection of Centreville Road and Rugby Road in Manassas at approximately 2:13 a.m., according to Prince William County Police. Investigators determined that Vazquez was driving a 2021 BMW M5 southbound on Centreville Road when he lost control of th…

by Zak Failla

10/31/2026

Towson, MD

Your Community

One Final Pint: Guinness Brewery In Maryland Set To Close After Eight Years Last call is coming for beer lovers in Maryland. After more than eight years, millions of visitors, and hundreds of beers, Guinness Open Gate Brewery is preparing to pour its final pints on Sunday, Nov. 1. That leaves customers just one more day to visit the popular brewery at 5001 Washington Blvd. in Halethorpe before it closes its doors for good. The closure marks the end of an experiment that brought one of Ireland's most recognizable brands to the heart of Maryland's craft brewing scene. Guinness opened the Baltimore County brewery in 2018, transforming the former Calvert distillery s…

by Zak Failla

10/31/2026

Arlington, VA

Breaking News

Arlington Substitute Teacher Turned Private Tutor Gets Prison Time For Relationship With Teen A substitute teacher in Virginia became his teenage student's private tutor before their relationship crossed the line. Now, Timothy McGhee is heading to prison. What began in a classroom at Washington-Liberty High School in Arlington in 2022 turned into a two-year relationship that ended with McGhee behind bars for the next five years. The girl was just 16 when the relationship began, according to prosecutors. McGhee was working as her long-term substitute teacher at the time, but his involvement in her life didn't end when the school day did. He eventually became her private math tutor…

by Zak Failla

10/31/2026

Wheaton-Glenmont, MD

Breaking News

Deadly Early-Morning Silver Spring Crash Brings Down Power Lines, Shuts Down Busy Road: Police A driver was killed and a passenger rushed to the hospital after an early-morning crash in Maryland that also knocked down power lines, shutting down a busy roadway. Montgomery County Police and firefighters responded to the single-vehicle crash at Randolph Road and Bluhill Road in Silver Spring shortly after 5 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31. Police initially reported the crash shortly after 5:30 a.m., warning drivers that downed power lines had forced Randolph Road to close in both directions. Less than half an hour later, authorities confirmed that the driver had died. A passenger was also t…

by Zak Failla

10/31/2026

Arlington, VA

Breaking News

Eight Kids Left Behind After DC Man Guns Down Children's Mother In Bloody Bedroom Murder Eight children. More than 20 bullet wounds. 45 years. A DC man has been sentenced to 45 years in prison for the violent murder of his children's mother, who was gunned down inside an apartment with eight children present. Wonell Jones Jr., 38, was sentenced in connection with the July 2022 murder of 33-year-old Audora Williams, federal authorities announced on Friday, Oct. 30. In the afternoon of July 19, 2022, Jones returned to Williams' apartment in the 2900 block of Knox Place SE after a grocery run with one of her young sons. At the time, there were eight children inside, including th…

by Zak Failla

10/30/2026

Lanham-Seabrook, MD

Breaking News

Cross-Country Trip To Sexually Abuse Child Lands Lanham Man In Federal Court: Feds A cross-country trip to California is at the center of a federal child sex abuse case against a Maryland man accused of exploiting three minors over several years. Hernan Antonio Maradiaga, 36, of Lanham, was indicted by a federal grand jury following an investigation involving allegations dating back to 2023, according to the US Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland. Federal prosecutors say Maradiaga traveled from Maryland to California in 2023 to engage in sexual activity with a child younger than 16. But investigators say that wasn't the end of his involvement with minors. In …

by Zak Failla

10/30/2026

Waldorf, MD

Obituaries

Generations Of Service: Waldorf Firehouse Mourns Loss Of Lifetime Member Sharon Zdobysz For 18 years, Sharon Zdobysz helped take care of a Maryland volunteer fire department and the people who called it home. Her husband says they'll especially miss her mandarin orange cakes at the fish fry. Zdobysz, a 73-year-old Waldorf resident and lifetime member of the Waldorf Volunteer Fire Department, died on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Virginia following an illness. Her death leaves a void in a fire department where volunteering was something of a family tradition. Zdobysz joined the department's Auxiliary in 2008, eventually taking on numerous leadership and admi…

by Zak Failla

10/30/2026

Waldorf, MD

Your Community

ICE Detains Father Outside Waldorf Silver Diner Days Before Son's 8th Birthday Salvador Calderas Lopez was getting ready to start his workday in Maryland. ICE had other plans. Before his shift even began on Monday morning, Oct. 26, Calderas Lopez was detained by federal immigration agents outside the Silver Diner in Waldorf, according to his family. "He was taken without a warrant or reason, and our family has been left trying to navigate an urgent and painful situation," his sister-in-law, Andrea Chavez-Romero, wrote in a GoFundMe campaign. "Salvador is a great dad and a valued member of the community." According to Chavez-Romero, officers in unmarked vehicles took…

by Zak Failla

10/30/2026

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