Zak Failla

Assistant Managing Editor

[email protected]

FOLLOW ON

Facebook Twitter Linkedin Instagram

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

Bowie, MD
Breaking News
Bowie Man Denied His Own Name, Flew To Turks And Caicos, Then Pleaded Guilty To Fraud: DOJ Bowie Man Denied His Own Name, Flew To Turks And Caicos, Then Pleaded Guilty To Fraud: DOJ Bowie Man Denied His Own Name, Flew To Turks And Caicos, Then Pleaded Guilty To Fraud: DOJ
Bowie Man Denied His Own Name, Flew To Turks And Caicos, Then Pleaded Guilty To Fraud: DOJ Apparently, stealing $1.35 million wasn't enough drama for Robert Terrell. Terrell, 51, a DC and Bowie resident, pleaded guilty to wire fraud this week after prosecutors say he falsified documents to secure more than a million dollars in COVID-19 relief funds for his business. That, somehow, may be the least bizarre part of the case. After he was indicted, Terrell initially appeared in federal court and acknowledged that his name was "Robert Alphonso Terrell," according to prosecutors. Then he changed his tune. At his next hearing and several that followed, Terrell denied that he was "Ro…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Lexington Park, MD
Breaking News
‘OC Legend’ Faces Fight For His Sight As Rare Disease Strikes Maryland Man ‘OC Legend’ Faces Fight For His Sight As Rare Disease Strikes Maryland Man ‘OC Legend’ Faces Fight For His Sight As Rare Disease Strikes Maryland Man
‘OC Legend’ Faces Fight For His Sight As Rare Disease Strikes Maryland Man The world is getting harder to see for a Maryland man who has spent years being a familiar face to others. Ocean City native Jason Cropper has suffered significant vision loss over the past six months, and doctors suspect he has Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy, or LHON, a rare inherited disorder that causes sudden, painless loss of central vision, according to a GoFundMe campaign launched this week by his brother, Steve Cropper. For Jason, the uncertainty is mounting. He lives alone. His eyesight continues to decline. And he does not know how much longer he will be able to work and suppo…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Fort Washington, MD
On Your Side
150K-Gallon Sewage Spill Reaches Swan Creek After Fort Washington Pipe Break 150K-Gallon Sewage Spill Reaches Swan Creek After Fort Washington Pipe Break 150K-Gallon Sewage Spill Reaches Swan Creek After Fort Washington Pipe Break
150K-Gallon Sewage Spill Reaches Swan Creek After Fort Washington Pipe Break More than 150,000 gallons of untreated wastewater found its way into a Maryland creek before crews could shut it down. The sanitary sewer overflow was detected at the Swan Creek Wastewater Pumping Station on West Tantallon Drive in Fort Washington, Prince George’s County, according to WSSC Water. It took crews just over an hour to stop the flow. By 9:17 a.m., the overflow had been halted, but not before an estimated 150,300 gallons of untreated wastewater spilled from a 24-inch force sewer main connected to temporary bypass pipes at the pumping station. One of those temporary bypass pipes…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Woman Sitting In Car Targeted By Armed Carjacker In Cherrydale: Police Woman Sitting In Car Targeted By Armed Carjacker In Cherrydale: Police Woman Sitting In Car Targeted By Armed Carjacker In Cherrydale: Police
Woman Sitting In Car Targeted By Armed Carjacker In Cherrydale: Police His getaway didn't last long. A Maryland man accused of pulling a gun on a woman and stealing her vehicle during a midday carjacking in Virginia was caught hours later after a pursuit ended with a crash in DC, police said. Tyler Abrahim Afsar, 23, of Hyattsville, has now been charged in the Tuesday, July 14 carjacking in the Cherrydale neighborhood, Arlington County Police announced on Thursday, Aug. 6. It began at approximately 12:59 p.m. in the 4100 block of 18th Street North, where investigators say a woman was sitting inside her parked vehicle when Afsar pulled up in a pickup truck. T…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Fredericksburg, VA
Breaking News
Pilot's Final Flight Was Test Run After Repairs Before Fatal Fredericksburg Plane Crash: NTSB Pilot's Final Flight Was Test Run After Repairs Before Fatal Fredericksburg Plane Crash: NTSB Pilot's Final Flight Was Test Run After Repairs Before Fatal Fredericksburg Plane Crash: NTSB
Pilot's Final Flight Was Test Run After Repairs Before Fatal Fredericksburg Plane Crash: NTSB Rowland Babcock Jr.'s final flight lasted only minutes before something went terribly wrong. New details released on Thursday, Aug. 6, by the National Transportation Safety Board are shedding light on the moments before the 78-year-old Ruther Glen pilot was killed in a crash near Shannon Airport in Fredericksburg in July. Babcock was conducting a test flight in an experimental Montana Coyote after repairs were made to the plane following an earlier mishap, according to the NTSB's preliminary report. Family members told investigators the aircraft had been repaired after a "landing grou…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Gaithersburg, MD
Breaking News
Maryland Murder Suspect Was Released From Jail Despite ICE Detainer Before Fatal Shooting: DHS Maryland Murder Suspect Was Released From Jail Despite ICE Detainer Before Fatal Shooting: DHS Maryland Murder Suspect Was Released From Jail Despite ICE Detainer Before Fatal Shooting: DHS
Maryland Murder Suspect Was Released From Jail Despite ICE Detainer Before Fatal Shooting: DHS A Maryland murder case just became the latest flashpoint in the immigration fight. The Department of Homeland Security took aim at state officials on Thursday, Aug. 6, after 34-year-old Noe Castillo-Mendez was charged in the fatal shooting of 44-year-old Dolores Leiva Hernandez, claiming the accused killer had previously been released from custody despite an ICE detainer. Castillo-Mendez, of Riverdale Park, is charged with second-degree murder and related offenses in connection with the shooting at approximately 10:15 p.m. on Thursday, July 30, inside an apartment in the 5400 block of Kenil…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Waldorf, MD
Breaking News
18-Year-Old Charged Months After Teen Gunned Down In White Plains, Sheriff Says (UPDATED) 18-Year-Old Charged Months After Teen Gunned Down In White Plains, Sheriff Says (UPDATED) 18-Year-Old Charged Months After Teen Gunned Down In White Plains, Sheriff Says (UPDATED)
18-Year-Old Charged Months After Teen Gunned Down In White Plains, Sheriff Says (Updated) The gunman investigators say killed a 19-year-old during a late-night dispute in Maryland is no longer on the run. Terrell Lamont Thompson, 18, of Waldorf, was arrested Tuesday, Aug. 5, in connection with the April shooting death of White Plains resident Tyon Makai Bias, according to the Charles County Sheriff's Office. The shooting was reported at approximately 2:54 a.m. on Wednesday, April 1, when officers were called to Enid Blyton Place in White Plains for reports of gunfire. Investigators say a group of people had gotten into a dispute when multiple shots were fired, striking Bias. T…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Frederick, MD
On Your Side
Second Beaver Attack In 2 Weeks Shuts More Of Cunningham Falls State Park As Rabies Fears Grow Second Beaver Attack In 2 Weeks Shuts More Of Cunningham Falls State Park As Rabies Fears Grow Second Beaver Attack In 2 Weeks Shuts More Of Cunningham Falls State Park As Rabies Fears Grow
Second Beaver Attack In 2 Weeks Shuts More Of Cunningham Falls State Park As Rabies Fears Grow It wasn't an isolated attack after all. Maryland health officials have confirmed a second beaver from Cunningham Falls State Park tested positive for rabies, escalating concerns after two separate attacks on park visitors in less than two weeks. The latest test result was announced Thursday, Aug. 6, after a 19-year-old fisherman was bitten while fishing in the William Houck Area of Hunting Creek Lake near Thurmont on Wednesday morning, according to the Frederick County Health Department. The rabid beaver is the second confirmed case at Cunningham Falls State Park since July 26, when a 13-y…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Randallstown, MD
Breaking News
Mystery Carroll County Incident Ends In Deadly Randallstown Crash, Police Say (DEVELOPING) Mystery Carroll County Incident Ends In Deadly Randallstown Crash, Police Say (DEVELOPING) Mystery Carroll County Incident Ends In Deadly Randallstown Crash, Police Say (DEVELOPING)
Mystery Carroll County Incident Ends In Deadly Randallstown Crash, Police Say (Developing) A 17-year-old driver was killed after an SUV left the road and crashed near the intersection of Liberty Road and Lyons Mill Road in Randallstown late Wednesday night, Baltimore County Police said. Officers were called to the scene at approximately 11:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Investigators said a 2013 GMC Acadia was traveling eastbound on Liberty Road when it left the roadway and slammed into a tree. The driver, identified as 17-year-old Angel Callejas Fuentes, was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The SUV's front-seat and rear-seat passengers were also rushed t…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Gaithersburg, MD
Breaking News
Boyds Teen Was Drunk, High Before 94 MPH Germantown Crash That Killed Woman: Prosecutors Boyds Teen Was Drunk, High Before 94 MPH Germantown Crash That Killed Woman: Prosecutors Boyds Teen Was Drunk, High Before 94 MPH Germantown Crash That Killed Woman: Prosecutors
Boyds Teen Was Drunk, High Before 94 MPH Germantown Crash That Killed Woman: Prosecutors It wasn't just the speed. It was everything that came before it. More than a year after Mary Elizabeth Moody, 71, was killed in a violent Germantown crash, Brody Richardson, 20, of Boyds, admitted in court that he caused the collision while driving drunk and high. Richardson pleaded guilty Wednesday, Aug. 5, in Montgomery County Circuit Court to two charges stemming from the deadly July 21, 2025 crash after drinking beer and smoking marijuana before getting behind the wheel. The plea comes after investigators pieced together a devastating timeline. According to prosecutors, Richardson was…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Prev Page 104 of 3959 102 103 104 105 106 Next
1,031 - 1,040 of 39,585 articles