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

Reisterstown, MD
Breaking News
$19K On Paper, $142K To Feds: Plywood Shipment From China Seized At Maryland Port $19K On Paper, $142K To Feds: Plywood Shipment From China Seized At Maryland Port
$19K On Paper, $142K To Feds: Plywood Shipment From China Seized At Maryland Port This wasn't your average stack of plywood. More than 8,500 sheets seized in Baltimore on Thursday, Aug. 27, were secretly imported from China using a stolen identity and doctored paperwork to dodge duties, according to US Customs and Border Protection. The shipment, valued by CBP at $142,372, first caught the attention of officers on July 9. On paper, there wasn't much to see. The importer claimed the falcata plywood came from Indonesia, valued the shipment at nearly $19,000, and listed an address near Denver as its destination. Officers detained it for a closer look, and the story behin…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
31-Year-Old Gunned Down In Baltimore, Murder Suspect Behind Bars 2 Days Later, Police Say 31-Year-Old Gunned Down In Baltimore, Murder Suspect Behind Bars 2 Days Later, Police Say
31-Year-Old Gunned Down In Baltimore, Murder Suspect Behind Bars 2 Days Later, Police Say A Maryland murder case moved quickly. Baltimore Police say Justin James, 29, was arrested on Friday, Sept. 4, two days after 31-year-old Stephon Carroll was fatally shot in the city. Officers were called to the 4200 block of Goodnow Road at approximately 2:29 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 2, where they found Carroll suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to his body, according to investigators. Carroll was rushed to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Homicide detectives took over the investigation, and police identified James as a suspect in Carroll's killing. Two days later, Jam…

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by Zak Failla
Temple Hills-Camp Springs, MD
Breaking News
Hit-Run Driver Flees After Striking, Killing Temple Hills E-Bike Rider From Behind, Police Say Hit-Run Driver Flees After Striking, Killing Temple Hills E-Bike Rider From Behind, Police Say
Hit-Run Driver Flees After Striking, Killing Temple Hills E-Bike Rider From Behind, Police Say An e-bike rider was killed after being struck from behind by an SUV that fled the scene in Maryland, police say. Temple Hills resident Manuel Mateo-Molina, 20, has been identified by the Prince George's County Police Department as the e-bike rider killed by a hit-and-run driver Monday night. Officers were called around 11:40 p.m. on Sept. 7 to the intersection of St. Barnabas Road and Stamp Road, where a crash involving an e-bike and an SUV was reported. Upon arrival, they found Mateo-Molina suffering from critical injuries. He was rushed to the hospital, where he died from his injuries on…

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by Zak Failla
Gaithersburg, MD
Your Community
Gaithersburg Grandmother Steps In To Raise 11-Year-Old After Mother's Sudden Death At 31 Gaithersburg Grandmother Steps In To Raise 11-Year-Old After Mother's Sudden Death At 31
Gaithersburg Grandmother Steps In To Raise 11-Year-Old After Mother's Sudden Death At 31 Everything changed for a Maryland family in an instant. Ashley Marie Lewis died unexpectedly on Monday, Aug. 3, leaving behind her 11-year-old son, Karter, who is now being cared for by his grandmother, Angela Fernandez. Lewis was 31. Fernandez says she lost her only daughter that day. At the same time, she suddenly became responsible for raising her grandson. “Since losing his mom, Karter has come to live with me, and I have taken on the responsibility of providing him with the stable, loving home he needs as we both navigate this unimaginable loss,” Fernandez wrote in a GoFundMe launche…

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by Zak Failla
Jessup, MD
Breaking News
Man Killed After Police Cruiser Struck, Infiniti Took Off In Jessup ID'd By AG Man Killed After Police Cruiser Struck, Infiniti Took Off In Jessup ID'd By AG
Man Killed After Police Cruiser Struck, Infiniti Took Off In Jessup ID'd By AG The man killed after a police pursuit in Maryland has been identified. Anthony Bowers Jr., 20, of Baltimore, was identified on Wednesday as the person who died following the Sunday, Sept. 6 crash in Jessup, according to the Maryland Attorney General's Independent Investigations Division. The Howard County Police officer involved was also identified as PFC Amir Parker, a six-year veteran assigned to the department's Traffic Management Division. The incident began at approximately 2:17 a.m. when an Infiniti struck an occupied, parked Howard County Police cruiser in the 7100 block of Montevid…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Obituaries
49-Year Mystery Solved: Human Remains Found In North Carolina ID'd As Missing Maryland Girl 49-Year Mystery Solved: Human Remains Found In North Carolina ID'd As Missing Maryland Girl
49-Year Mystery Solved: Human Remains Found In North Carolina ID'd As Missing Maryland Girl A Maryland girl who disappeared at 15 finally has her name back nearly half a century later. Cindy Marcell Blizzard ran away from Monkton in the spring of 1977 and was never seen again. More than 49 years later, investigators have identified her as the girl whose skeletal remains were found hundreds of miles away in North Carolina later that year. Blizzard's remains were discovered alongside clothing in a wooded area near the Firestone plant in Wilson on Dec. 29, 1977, according to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. At the time, a medical examiner believed the remains belong…

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by Zak Failla
Silver Spring, MD
Breaking News
Silver Spring Carjacking Suspect Nabbed Years After Woman Dragged From Her Own Vehicle: Police Silver Spring Carjacking Suspect Nabbed Years After Woman Dragged From Her Own Vehicle: Police
Silver Spring Carjacking Suspect Nabbed Years After Woman Dragged From Her Own Vehicle: Police A 23-year-old man who dragged a woman from her own vehicle in Maryland before crashing in DC has been apprehended years later, authorities announced. Daymonte Antonyio Jones is being held behind bars in connection with a carjacking that was reported in early July 2022 in Silver Spring, according to the Montgomery County Police Department. At around 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday, July 5, 2022, officers were called to the 8700 block of Georgia Avenue when a woman reported that she returned to her vehicle and found a man sitting in the driver's seat. There was a brief altercation, during which the wom…

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by Zak Failla
Leesburg, VA
Your Community
'That's Right, I Saw You': Virginia Mom Says Rock Hurled From Overpass Nearly Killed Family 'That's Right, I Saw You': Virginia Mom Says Rock Hurled From Overpass Nearly Killed Family
'That's Right, I Saw You': Virginia Mom Says Rock Hurled From Overpass Nearly Killed Family A few inches may have been all that separated a late-night drive through Virginia from a family tragedy. A massive rock came crashing down onto an SUV traveling along the Dulles Greenway at around 12:40 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 7, near the Sycolin Road overpass in Loudoun County, according to Christina Martinez, who was inside with her husband, two children, and two friends. The rock first slammed into the hood before smashing into the windshield, leaving behind a deep dent and a sprawling web of shattered glass directly in front of the driver's seat. Martinez says that first bounce may ha…

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by Zak Failla
Glen Burnie, MD
Breaking News
Witnesses Pull 21-Year-Old From Burning Audi After Violent Glen Burnie Crash, Police Say Witnesses Pull 21-Year-Old From Burning Audi After Violent Glen Burnie Crash, Police Say
Witnesses Pull 21-Year-Old From Burning Audi After Violent Glen Burnie Crash, Police Say There was no time to wait. Witnesses rushed to pull a 21-year-old driver from a burning car after a violent single-vehicle crash in Maryland late Tuesday night, Sept. 8, according to police. The crash happened at approximately 10:35 p.m. as the Severn man was driving a 2018 Audi north on Route 100 near the merge onto Route 10 in Glen Burnie, Anne Arundel County Police said. Investigators say the driver failed to negotiate the curve at the merge and struck a guardrail on the driver's side of the Audi. But the car didn't stop there. Police said the Audi continued out of control along Route…

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by Zak Failla
Rising Sun-Conowingo, MD
Weather
Did You Feel It? USGS Confirms Overnight Earthquake Near Rising Sun Did You Feel It? USGS Confirms Overnight Earthquake Near Rising Sun
Did You Feel It? USGS Confirms Overnight Earthquake Near Rising Sun The ground moved beneath Maryland while most people were sleeping. A 2.1-magnitude earthquake struck at approximately 12:41 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 9, with its epicenter about 2 kilometers west of Rising Sun in Cecil County, according to the US Geological Survey. The overnight tremor originated approximately 6.2 kilometers, or nearly 4 miles, below the surface. It was small, but it was real. USGS scientists reviewed the event Wednesday morning, confirming the earthquake after it was detected using data from 35 seismic stations and 42 seismic phases. The earthquake registered a magnitude…

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by Zak Failla
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