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

Hagerstown, MD
Breaking News
Martinsburg Man Crossed Into Washington County During Four-Day Maryland Crime Spree: Feds Martinsburg Man Crossed Into Washington County During Four-Day Maryland Crime Spree: Feds Martinsburg Man Crossed Into Washington County During Four-Day Maryland Crime Spree: Feds
Martinsburg Man Crossed Into Washington County During Four-Day Maryland Crime Spree: Feds Jordon Redfern allegedly packed four violent crimes into a four-day bank robbery spree across Maryland. Now he faces decades in prison. The 30-year-old Martinsburg, West Virginia, man has been indicted on a host of charges following a crime spree in Washington County and Baltimore, federal authorities announced on Friday, Sept. 25. According to the four-count indictment, the spree began on May 29, when Redfern allegedly robbed a bank in Windsor Mill and made off with approximately $6,300 in cash. Two days later, prosecutors say he headed west and carjacked a luxury vehicle in Washington C…

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by Zak Failla
Hagerstown, MD
Your Community
No Way In: Maryland's State Park Nobody Could Visit For Nearly 30 Years May Finally Open No Way In: Maryland's State Park Nobody Could Visit For Nearly 30 Years May Finally Open No Way In: Maryland's State Park Nobody Could Visit For Nearly 30 Years May Finally Open
No Way In: Maryland's State Park Nobody Could Visit For Nearly 30 Years May Finally Open Maryland has spent nearly three decades sitting on a state park with one fairly significant problem. Nobody could get into it. That may finally be changing at Wills Mountain State Park, where officials are taking the next steps toward opening more than 800 acres overlooking Cumberland to the public after decades of waiting. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced that more than $750,000 is being put toward planning the future of the long-promised park, including a $521,684 federal grant awarded to Frostburg State University. And "long-promised" might be putting it mildly. …

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by Zak Failla
Woodstock-Marriottsville, MD
Your Community
Maryland Soldier Lost In Pearl Harbor's West Loch Disaster Comes Home 82 Years Later Maryland Soldier Lost In Pearl Harbor's West Loch Disaster Comes Home 82 Years Later Maryland Soldier Lost In Pearl Harbor's West Loch Disaster Comes Home 82 Years Later
Maryland Soldier Lost In Pearl Harbor's West Loch Disaster Comes Home 82 Years Later More than 82 years after he was killed half a world away, a Maryland soldier is finally home. Pfc. Owen M. Norris, a 26-year-old Marriottsville native, returned to his home state on Thursday, Sept. 24, when his flag-draped casket arrived at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport as family members, service members, first responders, and airport workers gathered to welcome him. On Saturday morning, they will finish a journey that began in 1944. Norris will be buried at West Liberty United Methodist Church Cemetery in Marriottsville, two months after military officials finally identified remains that …

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by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
Breaking News
Virginia Man Had 'Carnal Knowledge' Of Teen He Knew Over Past Year, Police Say Virginia Man Had 'Carnal Knowledge' Of Teen He Knew Over Past Year, Police Say Virginia Man Had 'Carnal Knowledge' Of Teen He Knew Over Past Year, Police Say
Virginia Man Had 'Carnal Knowledge' Of Teen He Knew Over Past Year, Police Say A Virginia man allegedly engaged in sexual activity with a child he knew over the course of a year, police say. Jacob Ritchie, 25, of Culpeper, was arrested after the allegations were reported to Culpeper Police on Wednesday, Sept. 23, prompting detectives to investigate what they say had been happening over the past year. The child is between 13 and 15 years old, according to police. Detectives interviewed those involved and reviewed digital and electronic evidence before charging Ritchie with five felony counts of carnal knowledge of a child between 13 and 15. More charges could be comi…

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by Zak Failla
Frederick, MD
Breaking News
Farmhands Race To Save Maryland Farm As Smoke Rises From Towering Hay Stacks Farmhands Race To Save Maryland Farm As Smoke Rises From Towering Hay Stacks Farmhands Race To Save Maryland Farm As Smoke Rises From Towering Hay Stacks
Farmhands Race To Save Maryland Farm As Smoke Rises From Towering Hay Stacks A quick decision may have saved a Maryland farm from a far more expensive disaster. Smoke was spotted among towering stacks of hay at Deere Valley Farm in Dickerson at around 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 24, prompting the owner and farmhands to call 911 and get to work before firefighters even finished arriving. They started moving the massive bales out. The fire at Deere Valley Farms in Dickerson. Twitter/@mcfrsPIO About 50 Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service firefighters ultimately responded to the farm on Dickerson Road near Mouth of Monocacy Road, where hay was smolderin…

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by Zak Failla
Fairfax, VA
Breaking News
Firefighters Forced To Retreat As Burning Fairfax County Home Partially Collapses (VIDEO) Firefighters Forced To Retreat As Burning Fairfax County Home Partially Collapses (VIDEO) Firefighters Forced To Retreat As Burning Fairfax County Home Partially Collapses (VIDEO)
Firefighters Forced To Retreat As Burning Fairfax County Home Partially Collapses (Video) The house was already burning on both floors when part of it started coming down. Firefighters battling a raging two-alarm Virginia house fire late Thursday, Sept. 24, were forced to retreat and attack the flames from outside after part of the home collapsed, officials said. Crews were called to Fordson Road and Douglas Street in the Mount Vernon area of Fairfax County at 11:27 p.m. after multiple 911 callers reported heavy fire, black smoke and flames shooting through the roof. When firefighters arrived, they found a two-story home engulfed in heavy fire on both levels. Crews initiall…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
140 Kilos Of Cocaine, 10 Kilos Of Fentanyl Seized In Massive Baltimore Drug Bust: DOJ 140 Kilos Of Cocaine, 10 Kilos Of Fentanyl Seized In Massive Baltimore Drug Bust: DOJ 140 Kilos Of Cocaine, 10 Kilos Of Fentanyl Seized In Massive Baltimore Drug Bust: DOJ
140 Kilos Of Cocaine, 10 Kilos Of Fentanyl Seized In Massive Baltimore Drug Bust: DOJ The drugs were hiding in plain sight. A massive Maryland trafficking operation moved cocaine into Baltimore inside steel structures hauled on flatbed trailers, then used the same hidden compartments to ship drug money back out, federal prosecutors allege. Six people were indicted in the case announced on Thursday, Sept. 24, including 58-year-old George Robinson, whom investigators came to suspect was a major Baltimore cocaine supplier. And the numbers behind the alleged operation were staggering. Federal investigators ultimately seized more than 140 kilograms of cocaine, roughly 10 kilogr…

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by Zak Failla
Hagerstown, MD
Breaking News
Hagerstown Man Paid Mothers For Sexually Explicit Images Of Girls As Young As 6, Feds Say Hagerstown Man Paid Mothers For Sexually Explicit Images Of Girls As Young As 6, Feds Say Hagerstown Man Paid Mothers For Sexually Explicit Images Of Girls As Young As 6, Feds Say
Hagerstown Man Paid Mothers For Sexually Explicit Images Of Girls As Young As 6, Feds Say It started with a broken cellphone. Now, the Maryland man who brought it in for repairs is headed to federal prison for more than a decade. William Foster Alger, 76, of Hagerstown, was sentenced on Thursday, Sept. 24 to 138 months behind bars after admitting to sexually exploiting girls in Ecuador, including one who was just 6 years old. The case first surfaced in November 2024, when Alger walked into the Boost Mobile on Maryland Avenue in Hagerstown to have his phone repaired. Employees working on it discovered nude images of underage girls and alerted police, according to previous Daily…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Loaded Glock Found Down DC Man's Pant Leg After Stolen Car Crash, Chase: Feds Loaded Glock Found Down DC Man's Pant Leg After Stolen Car Crash, Chase: Feds Loaded Glock Found Down DC Man's Pant Leg After Stolen Car Crash, Chase: Feds
Loaded Glock Found Down DC Man's Pant Leg After Stolen Car Crash, Chase: Feds The Chrysler was wrecked. Running wasn't going to work. And there was still a loaded Glock stuffed down his pant leg. That was where things stood for Kamar Clayton after a short-lived escape attempt in DC that began with three smashed parked cars and ended with the 23-year-old in handcuffs. On Thursday, Sept. 24, Clayton was sentenced to two years in federal prison for the gun officers found on him that night. The strange part? Police weren't after him in the first place. At around 7:26 p.m. on March 23, Metropolitan Police and federal officers were attempting to stop a different vehicle …

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by Zak Failla
Lexington Park, MD
Breaking News
Maryland Schools Official Doctored Amazon Receipts To Hide $118K Theft: Prosecutors Maryland Schools Official Doctored Amazon Receipts To Hide $118K Theft: Prosecutors Maryland Schools Official Doctored Amazon Receipts To Hide $118K Theft: Prosecutors
Maryland Schools Official Doctored Amazon Receipts To Hide $118K Theft: Prosecutors A six-figure Amazon shopping spree is sending a former Maryland school administrator to prison. Denise R. Shorts, the former chief academic officer and assistant superintendent for Worcester County Public Schools, admitted on Wednesday, Sept. 23 that she used a district credit card to make $118,741.89 in personal purchases while working for the school system. And she wasn't stocking classrooms. According to prosecutors, Shorts used the card to buy clothing, shoes, makeup and beauty supplies, along with pool and exercise equipment for her home. She also bought supplies and technology for a…

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by Zak Failla
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