A Few Clouds 100°

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

News
Someone Tried Sneaking $123K Worth Of Kitchen Cabinets Through Virginia Customs, Feds Say Someone Tried Sneaking $123K Worth Of Kitchen Cabinets Through Virginia Customs, Feds Say
Someone Tried Sneaking $123K Worth Of Kitchen Cabinets Through Virginia Customs, Feds Say Virginia customs officers opened what was supposed to be a modest $500 shipment and instead uncovered what they say was an entire kitchen's worth of cabinets hidden inside. The discovery was made at the Port of Norfolk, where US Customs and Border Protection officers seized 781 cartons of kitchen cabinets that had been clandestinely imported from China after investigators determined the shipment had been deliberately mismanifested and drastically undervalued to evade customs duties. The investigation began in May, when officers inspected a shipping container whose paperwork listed it as con…

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by Zak Failla
Traffic
Trauma Patient Among 5 Hurt In Gaithersburg School Bus Crash During Morning Commute (PHOTOS) Trauma Patient Among 5 Hurt In Gaithersburg School Bus Crash During Morning Commute (PHOTOS)
Trauma Patient Among 5 Hurt In Gaithersburg School Bus Crash During Morning Commute (Photos) The morning commute took a violent turn. A Maryland school bus was caught in a chain-reaction crash involving three other vehicles Thursday morning, sending five people to area hospitals, including one trauma patient, officials said. The collision was reported shortly after 7:15 a.m. at the intersection of Firstfield Road and Clopper Road in Gaithersburg. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service crews arrived to find a crash involving three passenger vehicles and a school bus. Five people were injured and taken to nearby hospitals, according to MCFRS spokesperson David Pazos. One adult …

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by Zak Failla
News
Frederick Cancer Doc Who Billed For Chemo Never Given Reaches $1.45M Settlement: Feds Frederick Cancer Doc Who Billed For Chemo Never Given Reaches $1.45M Settlement: Feds
Frederick Cancer Doc Who Billed For Chemo Never Given Reaches $1.45M Settlement: Feds Cancer is cruel enough. Federal prosecutors say a Maryland oncology practice made it even worse. A Frederick chemotherapy clinic and its owner, Dr. Mouhamad Bazzi, have agreed to pay $1.45 million to settle allegations they fraudulently billed Medicare, Medicaid, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs for chemotherapy drugs they didn't pay for and, in some cases, treatments patients never actually received. The allegations cut to the heart of one of medicine's most trusted relationships. According to the US Attorney's Office, Progressive Oncology & Hematology knowingly sought reimb…

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by Zak Failla
Lifestyle
'She Doesn't Realize She's Missing A Leg Yet': Fredericksburg Family's Hero Dog Fights Back 'She Doesn't Realize She's Missing A Leg Yet': Fredericksburg Family's Hero Dog Fights Back
'She Doesn't Realize She's Missing A Leg Yet': Fredericksburg Family's Hero Dog Fights Back She still thinks she has four legs. A 9-year-old Virginia dog is learning to navigate a life she doesn't yet understand after being shot while protecting her family, according to her owner, leaving behind a recovery that has touched hearts far beyond her own home. Bella-Jean Newman was rushed to an animal hospital in Fredericksburg after she was shot on Monday, June 29, during what Kayla Baker described only as "an awful situation." "Bella is a protector, and when an awful situation occurred, Bella was unfortunately shot," Baker wrote. "Bella is a HERO!!!" The injuries were devastating. …

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Baltimore Murder Suspect Served Warrant From Hospital Bed After Woman Fatally Stabbed: Police Baltimore Murder Suspect Served Warrant From Hospital Bed After Woman Fatally Stabbed: Police
Baltimore Murder Suspect Served Warrant From Hospital Bed After Woman Fatally Stabbed: Police Detectives didn't find the suspect hiding. They found him in a hospital bed. A Maryland man accused of fatally stabbing Shonda Singleton, 56, inside a Baltimore home was served with a first-degree murder warrant while being treated at an area hospital, according to police. Baltimore investigators identified the suspect as Toi Stukes, 50, who will be transferred to the Central Booking Intake Facility once he is released from medical care.  Police have not said why Stukes was hospitalized. The murder happened shortly before 1:40 p.m. on June 20, when officers were called to a home in …

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
12-Year-Old Ellicott City Girl Killed In Bicycle Crash Identified By Police (UPDATED) 12-Year-Old Ellicott City Girl Killed In Bicycle Crash Identified By Police (UPDATED)
12-Year-Old Ellicott City Girl Killed In Bicycle Crash Identified By Police (Updated) A name now accompanies the heartbreak. The 12-year-old Maryland girl who was killed after falling from her bicycle into the path of a dump truck has been identified as Sanvika Selluka, Howard County Police announced a day after she was fatally struck. The fatal crash happened around 1:55 p.m. on Tuesday, June 30, in the 2000 block of Daniels Road in Ellicott City. Police said Sanvika was riding her bicycle in the roadway when she fell into the path of a 2004 Sterling LT9500 dump truck. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The dump truck driver was not injured and remained at the scene w…

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by Zak Failla
News
Fredericksburg Man Repeatedly Abused Child Under 13, Filmed It On Multiple Cell Phones: Feds Fredericksburg Man Repeatedly Abused Child Under 13, Filmed It On Multiple Cell Phones: Feds
Fredericksburg Man Repeatedly Abused Child Under 13, Filmed It On Multiple Cell Phones: Feds Samuel Flores de Dios didn't just abuse a child. He recorded it. The Mexican national living in Virginia illegally admitted to repeatedly sexually abusing a child under the age of 13 over the course of two months last year, federal authorities announced on Wednesday. Now, he will spend decades in prison. According to DHS, on at least four occasions between February and March 2025, he brought a victim under the age of 13 to the bedroom of an apartment he was renting in Fredericksburg, sexually abused the victim, and recorded it on cellphones positioned around the bedroom. One of the cell p…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Off-Duty Arlington Officer Arrested After Assaulting Person He Knew: Police Off-Duty Arlington Officer Arrested After Assaulting Person He Knew: Police
Off-Duty Arlington Officer Arrested After Assaulting Person He Knew: Police The one wearing the badge ended up in handcuffs. A Virginia police officer has been arrested and charged with malicious wounding after investigators say he assaulted someone he knew while off duty inside an Arlington home. Vincent Baglio, 31, of Arlington, was arrested Tuesday, June 30, following an investigation by the Arlington County Police Department into an alleged assault that happened more than a month earlier. According to police, the incident occurred on May 24 while Baglio was off duty. Investigators say Baglio and the victim, who are known to each other, were inside a residence…

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by Zak Failla
Lifestyle
Rare 1776 Document Goes On Display At Thomas Balch Library Just Before Fourth Of July Rare 1776 Document Goes On Display At Thomas Balch Library Just Before Fourth Of July
Rare 1776 Document Goes On Display At Thomas Balch Library Just Before Fourth Of July History has a funny way of showing up right on time. Just days before the Fourth of July, Virginia residents will have a rare chance to see an original document created as the American Revolution was unfolding, one that captures a remarkable turning point in the fight for independence. In Leesburg, the Thomas Balch Library has acquired the original March 11, 1776, bond appointing Philip Noland as sheriff of Loudoun County, a document historians say offers an extraordinary glimpse into Virginia's break from British rule. The manuscript is more than 250 years old. It formally pledged Noland…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Rooftop Escape Plan Ends With Silver Spring Burglary Suspect In Hospital, Then Jail: Police Rooftop Escape Plan Ends With Silver Spring Burglary Suspect In Hospital, Then Jail: Police
Rooftop Escape Plan Ends With Silver Spring Burglary Suspect In Hospital, Then Jail: Police Ademu Cummings took his best shot at getting away after a series of burglaries in Maryland. It ended with the 58-year-old Silver Spring man in the hospital. Cummings is now facing charges after allegedly breaking into the same property and attempting to outrun officers with a bold leap off of a Montgomery County rooftop, police say. It ended poorly. On Wednesday, July 1, the Montgomery County Department of Police announced that Cummings has been arrested following a string of burglaries reported last month. The investigation began on Monday, May 25, when officers responded to the facilit…

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by Zak Failla
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