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

Alexandria, VA
Breaking News
Illegal Immigrant Convicted In Fatal Maryland Hit-Run Of US Marine Faces Third Deportation: ICE Illegal Immigrant Convicted In Fatal Maryland Hit-Run Of US Marine Faces Third Deportation: ICE Illegal Immigrant Convicted In Fatal Maryland Hit-Run Of US Marine Faces Third Deportation: ICE
Illegal Immigrant Convicted In Fatal Maryland Hit-Run Of US Marine Faces Third Deportation: ICE The man convicted in the hit-and-run death of a young US Marine in Maryland is headed toward deportation once again after illegally returning to the United States not once, but twice, according to federal officials. Martin Martinez-Ballinas, 38, a Mexican national, was sentenced Friday, July 31, to 21 months in federal prison for illegally reentering the United States after a prior felony conviction, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland announced. The conviction traces back to a 2017 Montgomery County case in which Martinez-Ballinas was found guilty of a deadly automotive o…

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by Zak Failla
Wheaton-Glenmont, MD
Breaking News
Maryland Teen Charged As Adult After Shooting 13-Year-Old At Wheaton Mall: Police Maryland Teen Charged As Adult After Shooting 13-Year-Old At Wheaton Mall: Police Maryland Teen Charged As Adult After Shooting 13-Year-Old At Wheaton Mall: Police
Maryland Teen Charged As Adult After Shooting 13-Year-Old At Wheaton Mall: Police A Friday night shopping trip turned into chaos in Maryland. A 17-year-old accused of opening fire inside Westfield Wheaton Mall has now been charged as an adult after police say a 13-year-old boy was shot near a busy children's play area as families scrambled for cover. The shooting happened just before 6 p.m. on Friday, July 31, at the shopping center on Veirs Mill Road in Wheaton, according to Montgomery County Police. Investigators identified the suspect as Diego Rafael Turcios Avalos, of Silver Spring. Before officers arrived, Montgomery County's Emergency Communications Center was fl…

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by Zak Failla
Bowie, MD
Your Community
Banana Ball Takes Over Maryland As Players Surprise Fans At Bowie Dunkin' Before Big Show Banana Ball Takes Over Maryland As Players Surprise Fans At Bowie Dunkin' Before Big Show Banana Ball Takes Over Maryland As Players Surprise Fans At Bowie Dunkin' Before Big Show
Banana Ball Takes Over Maryland As Players Surprise Fans At Bowie Dunkin' Before Big Show Baseball has never looked quite like this. Maryland got a taste of the viral phenomenon known as Banana Ball on Saturday, Aug. 1, when players from the Loco Beach Coconuts and Indianapolis Clowns traded gloves for coffee cups during a surprise stop at a Dunkin' in Bowie ahead of their sold-out showdown at Prince George's Stadium. Long before first pitch, the party had already started. Banana Ball fever hit Bowie as players surprised fans with tickets, autographs and plenty of laughs before Saturday night's game at Prince George's Stadium. Alliance Marketing Partners Players laughed…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
Open-Air Drug Market Thrived In West Baltimore Until Massive Federal Takedown: DOJ Open-Air Drug Market Thrived In West Baltimore Until Massive Federal Takedown: DOJ Open-Air Drug Market Thrived In West Baltimore Until Massive Federal Takedown: DOJ
Open-Air Drug Market Thrived In West Baltimore Until Massive Federal Takedown: DOJ It wasn't just a corner operation. Federal investigators say it was a full-blown street-level drug enterprise that kept West Baltimore stocked with fentanyl, heroin, and crack for years. In Maryland, federal prosecutors announced that 14 Baltimore men have been indicted following a lengthy investigation into what authorities describe as an organized open-air drug market operating in West Baltimore. The indictment, unsealed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland, names: Walter Epps, 41; Luther Amos, 54; Antoine Benjamin, 34; Wendell Boykins Jr., 37; Davon Brown, 30; Zy'…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
DC Man Strangled Wife Until She Passed Out During Laundry Detergent Fight: Feds DC Man Strangled Wife Until She Passed Out During Laundry Detergent Fight: Feds DC Man Strangled Wife Until She Passed Out During Laundry Detergent Fight: Feds
DC Man Strangled Wife Until She Passed Out During Laundry Detergent Fight: Feds Something as ordinary as laundry detergent turned into a life-threatening attack in DC. Washington resident Johnny Gregory, 42, was sentenced on Friday, July 31, to 24 months in prison after a judge found him guilty of strangling his wife during a violent domestic assault earlier this year, the US Attorney's Office announced. The attack happened on Jan. 5, 2026, after the couple began arguing over laundry detergent, prosecutors said. According to trial evidence, Gregory shoved his wife to the ground, punched her in the face multiple times, then pinned her down by placing his knee on her ch…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
Crews Rush Into Burning Baltimore Apartment Building As Flames Engulf First Floor (DEVELOPING) Crews Rush Into Burning Baltimore Apartment Building As Flames Engulf First Floor (DEVELOPING) Crews Rush Into Burning Baltimore Apartment Building As Flames Engulf First Floor (DEVELOPING)
Crews Rush Into Burning Baltimore Apartment Building As Flames Engulf First Floor (Developing) Maryland firefighters raced into a burning apartment building Saturday after flames burst through a first-floor unit and thick black smoke poured into the sky. The fire broke out shortly after noon on Saturday, Aug. 1, in the 200 block of Beale Court in Baltimore, where crews arrived to find heavy fire showing from the first floor of a two-story, low-rise apartment building, according to the Baltimore City Fire Department. Firefighters quickly went to work attacking the blaze as flames shot from multiple windows and licked up the side of the building, photos released from the scene show. O…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
DC Teen's Crime Spree Got More Violent After Assault Arrest, Feds Say DC Teen's Crime Spree Got More Violent After Assault Arrest, Feds Say DC Teen's Crime Spree Got More Violent After Assault Arrest, Feds Say
DC Teen's Crime Spree Got More Violent After Assault Arrest, Feds Say A violent crime spree that began at a Maryland-area commuter gateway ended with a teenager headed to prison for the next decade. District resident Makai Bridges, 17, was sentenced to 12 years behind bars for a series of violent crimes committed when he was just 16, including an armed robbery, a carjacking, and assaults while locked up, federal prosecutors announced. The crime spree began around 2 a.m. on May 1, 2025, near the intersection of 3rd Street and Rhode Island Avenue NE, where prosecutors said Bridges and another suspect ambushed a woman waiting at a bus stop. Both appeared to be …

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by Zak Failla
Fort Washington, MD
Breaking News
Gun-Wielding Man Shot, Killed By Officers At Fort Washington Park In Maryland: AG Gun-Wielding Man Shot, Killed By Officers At Fort Washington Park In Maryland: AG Gun-Wielding Man Shot, Killed By Officers At Fort Washington Park In Maryland: AG
Gun-Wielding Man Shot, Killed By Officers At Fort Washington Park In Maryland: AG A call about a man with a gun ended in deadly gunfire along the Potomac River. A fatal police shooting in Maryland's Fort Washington Park is now under investigation after an officer shot and killed a man Friday evening, according to the Maryland Attorney General's Office. The shooting happened shortly after 6 p.m. on Friday, July 31, when officers with the Maryland-National Capital Park Police, Prince George's County Police Department, and US Park Police responded to reports of a shooting and a man walking near the river with a gun inside Fort Washington Park. According to the Office of th…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Wheelchair-Bound DC Man Tried To Crawl Away. His Attacker Kept Stabbing: Feds Wheelchair-Bound DC Man Tried To Crawl Away. His Attacker Kept Stabbing: Feds Wheelchair-Bound DC Man Tried To Crawl Away. His Attacker Kept Stabbing: Feds
Wheelchair-Bound DC Man Tried To Crawl Away. His Attacker Kept Stabbing: Feds He couldn't run. A DC man who admitted chasing down and repeatedly stabbing a wheelchair-bound victim as he desperately tried to crawl away will spend the next 18 years behind bars. Kevin Johnson, 40, was sentenced Friday, July 31, in Superior Court after pleading guilty earlier this year to the fatal stabbing of 44-year-old Antonio Pierre Woody in Northeast DC. According to prosecutors, Johnson and Woody were among a group socializing outside an apartment building on Lincoln Road NE during the early morning hours of Oct. 6, 2024. Johnson was still angry over an altercation the day before…

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by Zak Failla
Annapolis, MD
Breaking News
First Human West Nile Virus Case Of 2026 Confirmed In Maryland First Human West Nile Virus Case Of 2026 Confirmed In Maryland First Human West Nile Virus Case Of 2026 Confirmed In Maryland
First Human West Nile Virus Case Of 2026 Confirmed In Maryland Mosquito season has claimed its first human victim in Maryland. The Maryland Department of Health announced Friday, July 31, that a resident living in the state's Capital Region has tested positive for West Nile virus, marking the first confirmed human case in Maryland this year. Health officials did not identify the patient or release additional information, citing privacy concerns. The department is urging Marylanders to take precautions against mosquito bites as West Nile virus activity increases during the summer months. West Nile virus is spread primarily through the bite of infected…

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by Zak Failla
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