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
Second Maryland Murder Suspect Captured After Holiday Weekend Killing In Hagerstown: Police Second Maryland Murder Suspect Captured After Holiday Weekend Killing In Hagerstown: Police Second Maryland Murder Suspect Captured After Holiday Weekend Killing In Hagerstown: Police
Second Maryland Murder Suspect Captured After Holiday Weekend Killing In Hagerstown: Police The manhunt is over. A second suspect wanted in connection with a deadly holiday weekend shooting in Maryland has been captured, bringing both murder suspects into custody less than a week after a 30-year-old man was gunned down in Washington County. Michael Timothy Wilder, 38, was arrested without incident around 11:30 a.m. on Friday, July 10, in the 900 block of Dual Highway, according to the Hagerstown Police Department. Wilder was served with an arrest warrant charging him with first-degree murder and other related offenses in the July 5 killing of Dalonte Dametrius Young, 30, of Hager…

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by Zak Failla
Woodbridge, VA
Breaking News
Woodbridge Commuter's Morning Turns Fatal Crossing Busy Park-And-Ride Lot: Police Woodbridge Commuter's Morning Turns Fatal Crossing Busy Park-And-Ride Lot: Police Woodbridge Commuter's Morning Turns Fatal Crossing Busy Park-And-Ride Lot: Police
Woodbridge Commuter's Morning Turns Fatal Crossing Busy Park-And-Ride Lot: Police What began as a routine Friday morning commute ended in tragedy. A Virginia man was struck and killed while trying to cross the entrance lanes of a busy commuter lot in Woodbridge early Friday, July 10, according to the Prince William County Police Department. The crash happened around 6:30 a.m. at the Occoquan Commuter Lot on Old Bridge Road. Investigators say 78-year-old John Gregory Grace, of Occoquan, was attempting to cross the Gordon Boulevard entrance and exit lanes when he was struck by a 2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee that was exiting the lot. Police said Grace was not in a designated …

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by Zak Failla
Fort Washington, MD
Breaking News
Cop From Fort Washington Avoids Prison After Staging Fake Car Thefts For Insurance Money: Feds Cop From Fort Washington Avoids Prison After Staging Fake Car Thefts For Insurance Money: Feds Cop From Fort Washington Avoids Prison After Staging Fake Car Thefts For Insurance Money: Feds
Cop From Fort Washington Avoids Prison After Staging Fake Car Thefts For Insurance Money: Feds He helped stage fake car thefts, wrote bogus police reports, and cashed in on fraudulent insurance claims. Now, a former Anne Arundel County police officer has avoided prison. Jaron Earl Taylor, 32, of Fort Washington, was sentenced Friday, July 10, to three years of probation, including the first five months on home detention, for his role in a multi-year auto insurance fraud scheme involving multiple Maryland police officers, the US Attorney's Office announced. A federal judge also ordered Taylor to repay $38,670 to USAA, the amount prosecutors say the insurance company paid after Taylor…

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by Zak Failla
Manassas, VA
Breaking News
Manassas Homicide Case Grows To Seven Arrests After Teen Found Dead Near Mobile Home: Police Manassas Homicide Case Grows To Seven Arrests After Teen Found Dead Near Mobile Home: Police Manassas Homicide Case Grows To Seven Arrests After Teen Found Dead Near Mobile Home: Police
Manassas Homicide Case Grows To Seven Arrests After Teen Found Dead Near Mobile Home: Police It wasn't just two suspects after all. Nearly a month after an 18-year-old was gunned down in Virginia and found dead in a nearby backyard, Prince William County detectives have arrested four more people, bringing the total number charged in the case to seven. The latest arrests stem from the June 15 killing of Luis Angel Chavez, 18, of Manassas, who was shot inside the Bull Run Mobile Home Community before collapsing behind a home on Parrish Lane. Prince William County police announced on Friday, July 10, that detectives have charged four additional suspects following the ongoing homicide…

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by Zak Failla
Glen Burnie, MD
Breaking News
Glen Burnie Office Building Still Unsafe Day After Parking Garage Shift Forces Evacuation Glen Burnie Office Building Still Unsafe Day After Parking Garage Shift Forces Evacuation Glen Burnie Office Building Still Unsafe Day After Parking Garage Shift Forces Evacuation
Glen Burnie Office Building Still Unsafe Day After Parking Garage Shift Forces Evacuation Nobody is going back inside. A day after a structural scare forced the evacuation of a 10-story office building in Maryland, officials say Empire Towers remains unsafe to occupy, with engineers still needed before anyone can return. The building in the 7300 block of Ritchie Highway in Glen Burnie was evacuated after part of an underground parking garage shifted during construction on Thursday, July 9, prompting about 100 people to leave the building.  No injuries were reported. County officials said on Friday that the Department of Inspections and Permits' chief building inspector ha…

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by Zak Failla
Fredericksburg, VA
Breaking News
Virginia SWAT Called In As Search Warrant Targets Suspects Wanted On 16 Felony Warrants Virginia SWAT Called In As Search Warrant Targets Suspects Wanted On 16 Felony Warrants Virginia SWAT Called In As Search Warrant Targets Suspects Wanted On 16 Felony Warrants
Virginia SWAT Called In As Search Warrant Targets Suspects Wanted On 16 Felony Warrants A Virginia SWAT team was called in Friday morning after investigators identified a home connected to two suspects wanted on a combined 16 felony warrants. The Culpeper County Sheriff's Office SWAT Unit assisted the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police in serving a warrant at a home in the Stonehaven subdivision, resulting in a massive response on July 10. According to Sheriff Timothy W. Chilton, one of the two wanted suspects was inside the home when officers arrived. Chilton said SWAT wasn't deployed simply because officers were serving warrants. The decision, he said, was b…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
Maryland Children Killed In Gwynn Oak Double Homicide Identified By Police (UPDATED) Maryland Children Killed In Gwynn Oak Double Homicide Identified By Police (UPDATED) Maryland Children Killed In Gwynn Oak Double Homicide Identified By Police (UPDATED)
Maryland Children Killed In Gwynn Oak Double Homicide Identified By Police (Updated) New details have been released three days after two children were shot and killed in Maryland. Police have identified the victims as 9-year-old Steve Allen and 15-year-old Giovanna Myrie as detectives continue searching for the person responsible. The pair was found on Tuesday, July 7, in the 6100 block of Talles Road in Gwynn Oak, where Baltimore County Police responded around 7:20 p.m. to reports of a shooting. When officers arrived, they found Allen and Myrie suffering from apparent gunshot wounds, according to investigators. Both children died from their injuries. Their bodies were tr…

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by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
On Your Side
Virginia Mom's Bedtime Lottery Ticket Sparks $3.9M Scream That Sent Kids Running Virginia Mom's Bedtime Lottery Ticket Sparks $3.9M Scream That Sent Kids Running Virginia Mom's Bedtime Lottery Ticket Sparks $3.9M Scream That Sent Kids Running
Virginia Mom's Bedtime Lottery Ticket Sparks $3.9M Scream That Sent Kids Running She wasn't screaming because something was wrong. She was screaming because she'd just become a millionaire. A Virginia woman in Newport News struck it rich while playing the Virginia Lottery's Banker's Bonus online game before going to bed, winning a jackpot worth $3,908,819, lottery officials announced. According to the Virginia Lottery, the anonymous winner was playing from bed when she suddenly realized she'd hit the jackpot. The reaction got the attention of her teenage children. "I scared my children," the winner told lottery officials. "I just can't believe it!" Banker's Bonus is…

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by Zak Failla
Gaithersburg, MD
On Your Side
After 26 Years Of Opening Before Sunrise, Couple Faces Fight To Save Gaithersburg Restaurant After 26 Years Of Opening Before Sunrise, Couple Faces Fight To Save Gaithersburg Restaurant After 26 Years Of Opening Before Sunrise, Couple Faces Fight To Save Gaithersburg Restaurant
After 26 Years Of Opening Before Sunrise, Couple Faces Fight To Save Gaithersburg Restaurant Every morning before dawn, a 76-year-old Maryland restaurant owner unlocks the doors to the business he and his wife have spent the past 26 years building. Now, after decades of early mornings, late nights, holidays spent working, and one ambitious expansion, the family behind Olde Towne Cafe Bar & Grille in Gaithersburg is facing what they call the biggest challenge in the restaurant's history. It didn't start as the 80-seat neighborhood restaurant locals know today. In May 2000, Ali and his wife opened a modest breakfast counter inside a neighborhood drugstore on East Diamond Avenue.…

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by Zak Failla
College Park, MD
Breaking News
That 'Free' Minecraft Mod Could Give Hackers Your Entire Computer, Maryland Police Warn That 'Free' Minecraft Mod Could Give Hackers Your Entire Computer, Maryland Police Warn That 'Free' Minecraft Mod Could Give Hackers Your Entire Computer, Maryland Police Warn
That 'Free' Minecraft Mod Could Give Hackers Your Entire Computer, Maryland Police Warn It starts with a free Minecraft download. Now, police in Maryland are warning players and parents about a fast-spreading malware campaign that's turning fake game mods into a gateway for cybercriminals to steal passwords, hijack accounts, and even spy through victims' webcams. The Montgomery County Police Department issued the public safety alert on Friday, July 10, warning that malware known as "WeedHack" is being spread through fake Minecraft mods, game clients, YouTube videos, and download websites posing as legitimate sources. According to police, more than 116,000 players have been in…

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by Zak Failla
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