Zak Failla

Assistant Managing Editor

[email protected]

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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

Fredericksburg, VA
Your Community
He Got Lost On A Walk, Sat Down To Wait: Virginia Drone Found Him In The Darkness He Got Lost On A Walk, Sat Down To Wait: Virginia Drone Found Him In The Darkness He Got Lost On A Walk, Sat Down To Wait: Virginia Drone Found Him In The Darkness
He Got Lost On A Walk, Sat Down To Wait: Virginia Drone Found Him In The Darkness He knew he was lost. So he stopped walking and waited for someone to find him. That help came from above in Fauquier County late Tuesday night, Sept. 29, when a sheriff's deputy used a drone and thermal imaging to spot a missing 65-year-old man sitting in a heavily wooded area hours after he left home for a walk. The search began around 10 p.m. on Mountjoy Road in Marshall after a relative reported the man missing, according to the Fauquier County Sheriff's Office. He had last been seen while it was still daylight. The man was enrolled in the sheriff's office's Project Lifesaver program, …

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by Zak Failla
College Park, MD
Obituaries
Veteran, Championship Coach Brian Parham, UMD Fixture, Dies At 57 After Sudden Diagnosis Veteran, Championship Coach Brian Parham, UMD Fixture, Dies At 57 After Sudden Diagnosis Veteran, Championship Coach Brian Parham, UMD Fixture, Dies At 57 After Sudden Diagnosis
Veteran, Championship Coach Brian Parham, UMD Fixture, Dies At 57 After Sudden Diagnosis For more than 25 years, Brian Patrick Parham was one of the people quietly looking out for others. Then everything changed in a matter of weeks. The Maryland military veteran, championship coach, husband and father from Waldorf died on Wednesday, Sept. 23, following what the University of Maryland Police Department described as a "very brief but courageous battle" with a recently diagnosed illness. Parham was 57. His father-in-law, Michael McNair, said Parham died from cancer, leaving behind his wife, Traci, and children who knew him far differently than the thousands of people who crossed…

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by Zak Failla
Temple Hills-Camp Springs, MD
Breaking News
Driver Killed In Two-Vehicle Crash In Temple Hills: Police (DEVELOPING) Driver Killed In Two-Vehicle Crash In Temple Hills: Police (DEVELOPING) Driver Killed In Two-Vehicle Crash In Temple Hills: Police (DEVELOPING)
Driver Killed In Two-Vehicle Crash In Temple Hills: Police (Developing) A two-vehicle crash turned deadly on a busy Maryland roadway on Wednesday afternoon. Officers were called to the 4400 block of Branch Avenue in Temple Hills at approximately 2:45 p.m. on Sept. 30, where two vehicles had collided, according to Prince George’s County Police. One of the drivers, a man whose name has not been released, was rushed to an area hospital, where he died a short time later. The driver of the second vehicle was not injured. Investigators with the department’s Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit remained at the scene Wednesday afternoon working to determine wha…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
DC Man Lured Teen Into Car, Then Used Her Phone To Target Her 14-Year-Old Friend, Feds Say DC Man Lured Teen Into Car, Then Used Her Phone To Target Her 14-Year-Old Friend, Feds Say DC Man Lured Teen Into Car, Then Used Her Phone To Target Her 14-Year-Old Friend, Feds Say
DC Man Lured Teen Into Car, Then Used Her Phone To Target Her 14-Year-Old Friend, Feds Say A 23-year-old District man who lured a teen girl into his vehicle and held her against her will is now going to be held behind bars against his will. Keishawn Johnson, who prosecutors say "terrorized two children," has been sentenced to 204 months in prison after a harrowing incident involving two young girls in DC, according to federal authorities. According to court documents, in September 2024, Johnson tricked a 15-year-old girl into getting into his car in the District by falsely telling her that her 14-year-old friend was inside. Johnson then held the girl against her will and demande…

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by Zak Failla
College Park, MD
Breaking News
Fake 'Rifle,' Real Charges: Masked Driver Held Without Bond After UMD Campus Scare Fake 'Rifle,' Real Charges: Masked Driver Held Without Bond After UMD Campus Scare Fake 'Rifle,' Real Charges: Masked Driver Held Without Bond After UMD Campus Scare
Fake 'Rifle,' Real Charges: Masked Driver Held Without Bond After UMD Campus Scare The masked man behind a bizarre scare at a Maryland college campus now has a name, a mugshot and a lengthy list of charges. District resident Christopher Alongzo Garner, 40, was being held without bond after his arrest on Tuesday, Sept. 29, following a morning of alarming calls at the University of Maryland in College Park. It started around 9:24 a.m., when Prince George's County dispatchers alerted campus police to a white Dodge van being driven aggressively through the area. The driver was masked. And witnesses thought he had a rifle. More calls followed as the van made its way onto ca…

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by Zak Failla
Bowie, MD
Breaking News
Bowie Felon Busted With Loaded Glock In DC While On Release For GameStop Gunpoint Robbery Bowie Felon Busted With Loaded Glock In DC While On Release For GameStop Gunpoint Robbery Bowie Felon Busted With Loaded Glock In DC While On Release For GameStop Gunpoint Robbery
Bowie Felon Busted With Loaded Glock In DC While On Release For GameStop Gunpoint Robbery Tyzell Myrick was already getting a second chance when police say they found another loaded gun tucked into his pants. The 30-year-old Bowie man was sentenced on Wednesday, Sept. 30, to 33 months in federal prison after an encounter near DC's U Street corridor exposed a particularly inconvenient piece of his past. He wasn't supposed to have a gun. He especially wasn't supposed to have this one. It was around midnight on Aug. 17, 2025, when officers spotted Myrick near the Crown Gas station on Florida Avenue NW with the unmistakable outline of a firearm jutting from his pants, according to…

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by Zak Failla
Edgewood, MD
Breaking News
Harford Deputy Hit Nearly 100 MPH, Still Lost Ground Before Fleeing Driver's Buick Burned Harford Deputy Hit Nearly 100 MPH, Still Lost Ground Before Fleeing Driver's Buick Burned Harford Deputy Hit Nearly 100 MPH, Still Lost Ground Before Fleeing Driver's Buick Burned
Harford Deputy Hit Nearly 100 MPH, Still Lost Ground Before Fleeing Driver's Buick Burned A Harford County sheriff's deputy hit nearly 100 mph chasing a fleeing driver who would be dead less than a minute later. He won't face criminal charges. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown announced on Wednesday, Sept. 30, that Senior Deputy Allen Jennings will not be charged in connection with the June pursuit that ended with Tremayne Murphy blowing through a red light, triggering a five-vehicle crash and leaving his Buick engulfed in flames. The Independent Investigations Division (IID) of the Maryland Office of the Attorney General today released the body-worn camera footage…

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by Zak Failla
Mount Airy-Woodbine, MD
Breaking News
Mount Airy Man Hid Bathroom Camera, Used Phone To Sexually Exploit Girls As Young As 13: Feds Mount Airy Man Hid Bathroom Camera, Used Phone To Sexually Exploit Girls As Young As 13: Feds Mount Airy Man Hid Bathroom Camera, Used Phone To Sexually Exploit Girls As Young As 13: Feds
Mount Airy Man Hid Bathroom Camera, Used Phone To Sexually Exploit Girls As Young As 13: Feds Mark Travis Brigham wasn't content to use just one camera. The Maryland man used his cellphone to exploit three girls as young as 13 sexually, then hid another camera inside a bathroom to secretly record adults and minors showering and using the toilet, according to federal prosecutors. Now he's going to prison for 25 years. Brigham, 37, was handed the sentence on Wednesday, Sept. 30, by US District Judge James K. Bredar after pleading guilty in June to sexually exploiting a child and possessing child sexual abuse material. His victims were three girls between 13 and 14 years old. Betwee…

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by Zak Failla
Manassas, VA
Breaking News
I-8 Gunman Dies By Suicide In Manassas After Shooting 3 Workers, Killing 2: Police I-8 Gunman Dies By Suicide In Manassas After Shooting 3 Workers, Killing 2: Police I-8 Gunman Dies By Suicide In Manassas After Shooting 3 Workers, Killing 2: Police
I-8 Gunman Dies By Suicide In Manassas After Shooting 3 Workers, Killing 2: Police The manhunt that put parts of Virginia on alert Wednesday morning ended with three people dead. Marvin Grant, 37, of Charlotte, NC, shot three of his coworkers at United Rentals on Wellington Road in Manassas shortly after 7 a.m. on Sept. 30, killing two before fleeing south and ultimately taking his own life along I-81, according to Manassas City and Virginia State Police. Richard Lamont, 48, and Christopher Serrano, 33, were killed in the shooting. A third victim survived and remained hospitalized in stable condition Wednesday afternoon. All three worked with Grant at United Rentals, pol…

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by Zak Failla
Woodlawn, MD
Breaking News
21-Year-Old Charged With Attempted Murder After Woman Shot At Woodlawn Hotel: Police 21-Year-Old Charged With Attempted Murder After Woman Shot At Woodlawn Hotel: Police 21-Year-Old Charged With Attempted Murder After Woman Shot At Woodlawn Hotel: Police
21-Year-Old Charged With Attempted Murder After Woman Shot At Woodlawn Hotel: Police A shooting at a Maryland hotel has landed a 21-year-old man behind bars on an attempted murder charge. Hayden Hill was arrested following the Tuesday, Sept. 29 shooting in the 6700 block of Security Boulevard in Woodlawn, Baltimore County Police announced the following day. Officers were called to the hotel at approximately 7:35 a.m., where they found a 23-year-old woman suffering from a gunshot wound. She was taken to an area hospital for treatment. Police initially described the shooting as an isolated incident as detectives worked to identify and locate the person responsible. By Wedn…

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by Zak Failla
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