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

Elkton, MD
Breaking News
Wanted In 3 States, Elkton Man Gets Away Twice Before Stolen Ford Gives Out In Maryland: Police Wanted In 3 States, Elkton Man Gets Away Twice Before Stolen Ford Gives Out In Maryland: Police Wanted In 3 States, Elkton Man Gets Away Twice Before Stolen Ford Gives Out In Maryland: Police
Wanted In 3 States, Elkton Man Gets Away Twice Before Stolen Ford Gives Out In Maryland: Police A wanted man driving a stolen car led police across state lines before twice ramming Maryland State Police cruisers while trying to get away, authorities said. Justin Burchett, 42, of Elkton, was arrested on Wednesday, Sept. 23, following a pursuit that began in Cecil County, crossed into Pennsylvania, and ended hours later at a gas station in Harford County. Burchett was already wanted on multiple felony warrants in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, including for first-degree assault in connection with a recent Pennsylvania State Police investigation, according to MSP. Shortly before …

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
Multiple Victims Reported After MTA Bus Goes Off Road In Baltimore Crash (DEVELOPING) Multiple Victims Reported After MTA Bus Goes Off Road In Baltimore Crash (DEVELOPING) Multiple Victims Reported After MTA Bus Goes Off Road In Baltimore Crash (DEVELOPING)
Multiple Victims Reported After MTA Bus Goes Off Road In Baltimore Crash (Developing) A crash involving an MTA bus left multiple people hurt in Maryland on Thursday afternoon. The crash was reported in the 1500 block of North Wolfe Street in Baltimore on Sept. 24, drawing a response from city police, firefighters, and Maryland Transit Administration officials shortly before 2 p.m. Police said a vehicle and an MTA bus were involved in the crash, which left multiple victims. Photos from the scene show the bus off the roadway and up against a tree, with first responders spread across North Wolfe Street. Both East Oliver and North Wolfe streets were closed while crews worked a…

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by Zak Failla
Elkridge, MD
Obituaries
‘Once A Lion, Always A Lion’: All-County Lacrosse Player, 18, Killed In Ellicott City Crash ‘Once A Lion, Always A Lion’: All-County Lacrosse Player, 18, Killed In Ellicott City Crash ‘Once A Lion, Always A Lion’: All-County Lacrosse Player, 18, Killed In Ellicott City Crash
‘Once A Lion, Always A Lion’: All-County Lacrosse Player, 18, Killed In Ellicott City Crash Kaio Cypress had only been out of high school for three months. The 18-year-old All-County lacrosse player and recent Howard High graduate was killed shortly before 10 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 18, when his car left a Maryland roadway and struck a tree. Cypress, an Elkridge resident and member of Howard's Class of 2026, was driving a 2013 Nissan Juke north on Ilchester Road in Ellicott City around 9:48 p.m. when the vehicle veered off the road between Jeans Way and Bonnie Branch Road, according to Howard County Police. Why remains unclear. The Nissan struck a tree, and Cypress, who was alone …

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Obituaries
Maryland Father Who ‘Showed Up For The People Around Him’ Dies Suddenly At 38 Maryland Father Who ‘Showed Up For The People Around Him’ Dies Suddenly At 38 Maryland Father Who ‘Showed Up For The People Around Him’ Dies Suddenly At 38
Maryland Father Who ‘Showed Up For The People Around Him’ Dies Suddenly At 38 Johnathan Speed was the kind of person who showed up. For his family. For his friends. And, most importantly, for the two boys who knew him simply as Dad. Now, a Maryland family is mourning the sudden loss of the 38-year-old father of two, who died after suffering a heart attack earlier this month, according to his family. Speed died at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore earlier this month, leaving his loved ones stunned by a loss they never saw coming, his cousin Daryl Graham said. At the center of Speed's life were his sons, Jovanni and Jeremiah. Photos shared by the family capture that part …

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by Zak Failla
Landover, MD
Breaking News
Teen Shot At Prince George's Community College, Nearby High School Locked Down (DEVELOPING) Teen Shot At Prince George's Community College, Nearby High School Locked Down (DEVELOPING) Teen Shot At Prince George's Community College, Nearby High School Locked Down (DEVELOPING)
Teen Shot At Prince George's Community College, Nearby High School Locked Down (Developing) A Maryland college campus became a crime scene late Thursday morning. A teenage boy was shot at Prince George's Community College in Largo shortly before noon on Sept. 24, prompting a brief lockdown on campus and a lockdown at nearby Largo High School, according to Prince George's County Police. The college's main campus is on Largo Road. But police didn't initially find the teen at the college. Around 11:40 a.m., officers were alerted that a teenage boy had walked into a medical center suffering from a gunshot wound, investigators said. He was hospitalized in stable condition with injuri…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
E-Bike Rider Falls Beneath Box Truck In Fatal Crash Near Logan Circle: Police E-Bike Rider Falls Beneath Box Truck In Fatal Crash Near Logan Circle: Police E-Bike Rider Falls Beneath Box Truck In Fatal Crash Near Logan Circle: Police
E-Bike Rider Falls Beneath Box Truck In Fatal Crash Near Logan Circle: Police He was trying to get to the right side of the road. Instead, a 60-year-old e-bike rider was killed near Logan Circle in DC on Tuesday, Sept. 22, after police say he collided with a box truck, fell from his bike, and was run over. Oludare Ayodele Adekoya, of Northwest DC, had been riding out of the park at Logan Circle and onto Rhode Island Avenue NW shortly after 1 p.m., according to the Metropolitan Police Department. Police say Adekoya entered the 1300 block on the wrong side of the roadway without a helmet and began trying to cross over to the proper lanes. At the same time, a commerci…

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by Zak Failla
Brandywine, MD
Breaking News
160+ Golf Carts Torched As Fire Rips Through Brandywine Repair Business (PHOTOS) 160+ Golf Carts Torched As Fire Rips Through Brandywine Repair Business (PHOTOS) 160+ Golf Carts Torched As Fire Rips Through Brandywine Repair Business (PHOTOS)
160+ Golf Carts Torched As Fire Rips Through Brandywine Repair Business (Photos) A sea of golf carts was left scorched and twisted after an early morning fire tore through a Maryland business. Firefighters were called to the 15200 block of Crain Highway in Brandywine around 6:33 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 24, where flames had broken out at a commercial golf cart repair business, according to the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department. Several golf carts were already burning when crews arrived, and the flames had begun spreading to an office building on the property. By the time firefighters got the blaze under control, the damage stretched far beyond those first few c…

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by Zak Failla
Landover, MD
Obituaries
‘Frankie Could Always Be Counted On’: 20-Year-Old Remembered After Fatal Landover Crash ‘Frankie Could Always Be Counted On’: 20-Year-Old Remembered After Fatal Landover Crash ‘Frankie Could Always Be Counted On’: 20-Year-Old Remembered After Fatal Landover Crash
‘Frankie Could Always Be Counted On’: 20-Year-Old Remembered After Fatal Landover Crash Frankie Negron had a way of being there for his loved ones. The 20-year-old killed after being ejected from a vehicle during an early-morning crash in Prince George's County is now being remembered as "a lively and bright person" whose life was cut short too soon. "(He) carried so much care and positive energy wherever he went. He was always proud to celebrate the accomplishments of those close to him, no matter how big or small," Negron's family said through a friend. "He had a way of making the people around him feel supported and cared for, and he was always willing to show up for t…

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by Zak Failla
Linthicum, MD
Breaking News
'I Would Have Hugged You Tighter': Family Mourns Motorcyclist Killed In Linthicum 'I Would Have Hugged You Tighter': Family Mourns Motorcyclist Killed In Linthicum 'I Would Have Hugged You Tighter': Family Mourns Motorcyclist Killed In Linthicum
'I Would Have Hugged You Tighter': Family Mourns Motorcyclist Killed In Linthicum A motorcyclist has died from injuries suffered in a weekend crash in Maryland. Elias Crespo Tejada, 42, of Glen Burnie, died after his motorcycle collided with a turning vehicle shortly before 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 20 in Linthicum, according to Anne Arundel County Police. Investigators say Tejada was riding a 2026 Yamaha south on Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard when a 2017 Nissan traveling in the opposite direction attempted to turn left onto westbound East Maple Road. As the Nissan crossed the southbound lanes, Tejada's motorcycle struck the passenger side of the vehicle, police said. …

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by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
Breaking News
Man In US Illegally Pursued Agent Posing As 14-Year-Old Girl In Virginia, Feds Say Man In US Illegally Pursued Agent Posing As 14-Year-Old Girl In Virginia, Feds Say Man In US Illegally Pursued Agent Posing As 14-Year-Old Girl In Virginia, Feds Say
Man In US Illegally Pursued Agent Posing As 14-Year-Old Girl In Virginia, Feds Say The 14-year-old girl he thought he was pursuing didn't even exist. A 50-year-old man living in the US illegally was sentenced in Virginia on Wednesday to 18 years in federal prison after prosecutors say he repeatedly solicited an undercover officer posing as a teen before showing up at a Fairfax County park expecting to meet her for sex. Mario Alexander Bonilla Canales, a Salvadoran national who had previously been removed from the US at least three times, first made contact with the supposed girl on Facebook in June 2025, according to federal prosecutors. "She" was actually an undercover …

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by Zak Failla
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