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

Bel Air, MD
Breaking News
Hoarder Conditions, Zero Visibility: Bel Air Firefighter Carries Resident To Safety Hoarder Conditions, Zero Visibility: Bel Air Firefighter Carries Resident To Safety
Hoarder Conditions, Zero Visibility: Bel Air Firefighter Carries Resident To Safety A Maryland firefighter disappeared into a smoke-filled basement with zero visibility and came back out carrying the resident trapped inside. Shortly after 5 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, crews were called to a one-story rancher on Brooks Road in Bel Air, where there were reports of a fire that broke out, according to the Office of the State Fire Marshal. While en route, members of the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company were alerted that there was someone trapped inside the burning home. Engine 313 arrived and found the fire burning in the basement as firefighters stretched a hose line and made t…

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by Zak Failla
Fredericksburg, VA
Obituaries
'Rest Easy, Mason': Spotsylvania Firefighter, 24, Dies In Off-Duty Lake Drowning 'Rest Easy, Mason': Spotsylvania Firefighter, 24, Dies In Off-Duty Lake Drowning
'Rest Easy, Mason': Spotsylvania Firefighter, 24, Dies In Off-Duty Lake Drowning A young Virginia firefighter who spent his life helping others died unexpectedly. Spotsylvania County Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Management confirmed on Friday, Aug. 14, that Firefighter Mason Fercovic-Ortegel died in what the department described as an off-duty drowning incident at Lake Anna. "It is with a very heavy heart that we share the passing of Firefighter Mason Fercovic-Ortegel, who tragically died in an off-duty drowning incident at Lake Anna," the department said. "Mason was only 24 years old." Those who knew Fercovic-Ortegel remembered more than the uniform. Justin Edward Pyk…

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by Zak Failla
Fredericksburg, VA
Breaking News
Night On Lake Anna Turns Tragic After 24-Year-Old Enters Water And Never Returns (DEVELOPING) Night On Lake Anna Turns Tragic After 24-Year-Old Enters Water And Never Returns (DEVELOPING)
Night On Lake Anna Turns Tragic After 24-Year-Old Enters Water And Never Returns (Developing) A night on the water ended in tragedy at one of Virginia's most popular lakes. Divers recovered the body of a 24-year-old man from Lake Anna late Thursday, Aug. 13, hours after he disappeared in the water near Seay Point Road in Spotsylvania County, officials announced. The first call came in at 7:40 p.m. Louisa County 911 alerted Spotsylvania emergency dispatchers after receiving a call from someone who said the man had been boating with them before entering the lake and failing to return. Spotsylvania Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management crews were dispatched three minute…

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by Zak Failla
Hagerstown, MD
Breaking News
Family Feud Goes Up In Flames As West Virginia Man Faces Maryland Arson Charges: Fire Marshal Family Feud Goes Up In Flames As West Virginia Man Faces Maryland Arson Charges: Fire Marshal
Family Feud Goes Up In Flames As West Virginia Man Faces Maryland Arson Charges: Fire Marshal A family dispute in Maryland landed a 43-year-old West Virginia man behind bars after intentionally sparking a blaze, authorities announced late on Thursday night. Things apparently got a little Care-less during the family feud. Chad Edward Care, of Hedgesville, was served a criminal summons on Thursday, Aug. 13, at Deep Creek Lake in Garrett County following an investigation by the Office of the Maryland State Fire Marshal. The investigation dates back to approximately 4:50 p.m. on Thursday, July 30, when Deputy State Fire Marshals and accelerant-detection K9 Quinn were called to investig…

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by Zak Failla
Woodbridge, VA
Breaking News
Those Safes From The Woodbridge Chop Shop? Police Just Revealed What Was Inside Those Safes From The Woodbridge Chop Shop? Police Just Revealed What Was Inside
Those Safes From The Woodbridge Chop Shop? Police Just Revealed What Was Inside Turns out the stolen cars were only part of the inventory. Prince William County police peeled back another layer of a sprawling Virginia chop shop investigation on Thursday, Aug. 13, revealing cocaine, THC products, scales and DMV documents recovered as detectives dismantled the operation. And those safes police teased a day earlier? They weren't giving up their secrets willingly. New photos released in "CHOP SHOP | Part 2" show investigators using heavy-duty tools to rip into one of four safes seized from the residence. Once they got inside, detectives found THC products they said were…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
He Was 17 When Morgan State Homecoming Erupted In Gunfire; Now He Knows His Fate He Was 17 When Morgan State Homecoming Erupted In Gunfire; Now He Knows His Fate
He Was 17 When Morgan State Homecoming Erupted In Gunfire; Now He Knows His Fate He was 17 when bullets started flying at a Maryland homecoming celebration. Now 20, Marquis Brown will be pushing 100 if he ever finishes the sentence handed down in Baltimore for his role in the mass shooting that wounded five people at Morgan State University nearly three years ago. Brown, a District resident, was sentenced to 85 years in prison after being convicted in May of five counts of attempted second-degree murder and related offenses. It was the latest chapter in a case that began with chaos on Morgan State's campus on Oct. 3, 2023. That night, students were spilling out of a c…

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by Zak Failla
Sterling, VA
Breaking News
Here's Why 440 Pounds Of Seemingly Harmless Cotton Was Seized At Dulles Airport Here's Why 440 Pounds Of Seemingly Harmless Cotton Was Seized At Dulles Airport
Here's Why 440 Pounds Of Seemingly Harmless Cotton Was Seized At Dulles Airport This was no ordinary baggage claim. A family flying into Virginia with plans to make their own bedding instead landed in the middle of an unusual airport seizure when federal agriculture specialists discovered more than 440 pounds of raw cotton packed inside their luggage at Washington Dulles International Airport. And it wasn't the cotton itself that raised the biggest red flag. It was what was still hiding inside. The family arrived at Dulles from Afghanistan and was referred by US Customs and Border Protection officers for a secondary inspection, according to the agency. They were…

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by Zak Failla
Gaithersburg, MD
Breaking News
He Hit A Homemade Pipe Bomb With A Hammer, Then His Gaithersburg Home Exploded He Hit A Homemade Pipe Bomb With A Hammer, Then His Gaithersburg Home Exploded
He Hit A Homemade Pipe Bomb With A Hammer, Then His Gaithersburg Home Exploded Robert Stojinski Jr. learned the hard way what happens when a homemade explosive meets a hammer. The 43-year-old Gaithersburg man was sentenced to 54 years in prison, with all but 25 years suspended, months after a pipe bomb exploded inside his Montgomery County home, blasting a hole between floors and sending pieces of metal shrapnel flying through the house. Robert Stojinski, Jr. Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office And that was only the beginning of what investigators found inside. The explosion happened at Stojinski's home on Empress Court in Gaithersburg on Oct. 24, 202…

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by Zak Failla
Hagerstown, MD
Breaking News
Hagerstown Grandma Who Drove 11 Miles Before Realizing 7-Year-Old Grandson Was Gone Convicted Hagerstown Grandma Who Drove 11 Miles Before Realizing 7-Year-Old Grandson Was Gone Convicted
Hagerstown Grandma Who Drove 11 Miles Before Realizing 7-Year-Old Grandson Was Gone Convicted A 68-year-old grandmother in Maryland is facing time behind bars after her grandson fell out of her vehicle and was killed. She never noticed he was gone. Hagerstown resident Lorraine Marie O'Neill was found guilty following a four-day trial of neglect of a minor in connection with the death of her 7-year-old grandson in November 2024. On Nov. 24, 2024, prosecutors say O'Neill was driving north on I-97 through Millersville in a 2011 Mazda 3 with her grandson riding in a car seat in the back. As she was traveling near I-97 and Benfield Boulevard, the child fell out of the vehicle’s rear pa…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Your Community
Gone Fishing, Then Disaster: Rogue Wave Sends Virginia Man Into Boat Cleat Gone Fishing, Then Disaster: Rogue Wave Sends Virginia Man Into Boat Cleat
Gone Fishing, Then Disaster: Rogue Wave Sends Virginia Man Into Boat Cleat One rogue wave changed everything. TJ Hartney was heading out to fish for cobia with friends in Virginia on Saturday, Aug. 8, when their boat hit the wave, throwing him off balance and sending him sliding down the gunwale, according to his family. Then came the impact. Hartney was impaled by a cleat on the boat, causing a severe injury to his right arm, his family said. The fishing trip was over. A much longer journey was just beginning. Because of the severity of his injuries, Hartney was rushed to the emergency room at Virginia Beach General, where he has already undergone one surgery,…

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by Zak Failla
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