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

Chesapeake City, MD
Breaking News
'Lucky Us' Turned Into A Nightmare For Maryland Family After Fourth Of July Boat Explosion 'Lucky Us' Turned Into A Nightmare For Maryland Family After Fourth Of July Boat Explosion 'Lucky Us' Turned Into A Nightmare For Maryland Family After Fourth Of July Boat Explosion
'Lucky Us' Turned Into A Nightmare For Maryland Family After Fourth Of July Boat Explosion Lucky them? What was supposed to be a Fourth of July on the water has become months of recovery. Nearly a week after a boat exploded at a Cecil County marina, a Maryland family at the center of the blast is beginning what loved ones describe as a long physical and emotional road to recovery while the community rallies around them. The explosion was reported just after 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 4, at Schaefer's Canal House in Chesapeake City, where emergency crews responded after a roughly 32-foot boat exploded while tied to the dock. The Maryland Office of the State Fire Marshal said nine …

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by Zak Failla
Fairfax, VA
Breaking News
Trooper Struck As Wrong-Way Driver Tears Through I-95 Express Lanes In Virginia (UPDATED) Trooper Struck As Wrong-Way Driver Tears Through I-95 Express Lanes In Virginia (UPDATED) Trooper Struck As Wrong-Way Driver Tears Through I-95 Express Lanes In Virginia (UPDATED)
Trooper Struck As Wrong-Way Driver Tears Through I-95 Express Lanes In Virginia (Updated) A Virginia State Police trooper was struck while trying to intercept a wrong-way driver barreling along I-95, ending a dangerous pursuit that also left another driver caught in the crossfire. The chaos began around 7:37 p.m. on Wednesday, July 8, when Virginia State Police received reports of a driver traveling north in the southbound I-95 Express Lanes near Route 294 in Prince William County. A trooper located the vehicle after it continued into Fairfax County along I-395. Rather than wait for the driver to come to him, the trooper entered the interstate north of the driver's location in …

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by Zak Failla
Suitland, MD
Breaking News
Boyfriend Convicted After Suitland Woman Found Wrapped In Plastic, Encased In Concrete Boyfriend Convicted After Suitland Woman Found Wrapped In Plastic, Encased In Concrete Boyfriend Convicted After Suitland Woman Found Wrapped In Plastic, Encased In Concrete
Boyfriend Convicted After Suitland Woman Found Wrapped In Plastic, Encased In Concrete Sherron Turner wasn't just murdered. Police found the 44-year-old woman's body wrapped in plastic and partially encased in concrete inside a Maryland apartment she shared with her boyfriend. More than a year later, Michael McClanahan was convicted of her murder in Suitland, the Prince George's County State's Attorney announced Thursday. McClanahan, 38, was convicted of second-degree murder and disposing of a body in an unauthorized place in connection with the grisly April 2025 killing. The case began when officers conducted a welfare check at the couple’s home in the 2300 block of Ewing …

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by Zak Failla
Chantilly, VA
Breaking News
Rabid Cat That Didn't Look Sick May Have Exposed People In Chantilly: Health Officials Rabid Cat That Didn't Look Sick May Have Exposed People In Chantilly: Health Officials Rabid Cat That Didn't Look Sick May Have Exposed People In Chantilly: Health Officials
Rabid Cat That Didn't Look Sick May Have Exposed People In Chantilly: Health Officials She didn't look sick. That's what has Loudoun County health officials warning anyone who may have handled a stray cat or her five kittens in a Virginia neighborhood to come forward before it's too late. The alert centers on a Chantilly neighborhood near the intersection of Crossfield Drive and Center Street, just west of Loudoun County Parkway, where the mother cat and her litter were seen between Saturday, June 6, and Tuesday, June 16, according to the Loudoun County Health Department. Officials say the average-sized brown tabby with white feet and white markings on her face appeared heal…

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by Zak Failla
Fredericksburg, VA
Breaking News
Fredericksburg Fugitives' Luck Runs Out After Officer Recognizes Wanted Man, K-9 Finds Drugs Fredericksburg Fugitives' Luck Runs Out After Officer Recognizes Wanted Man, K-9 Finds Drugs Fredericksburg Fugitives' Luck Runs Out After Officer Recognizes Wanted Man, K-9 Finds Drugs
Fredericksburg Fugitives' Luck Runs Out After Officer Recognizes Wanted Man, K-9 Finds Drugs He never made it out of the parking lot. A Virginia fugitive's attempt to slip away ended in handcuffs after a Fredericksburg police officer recognized him on sight, setting off a traffic stop that also landed the department another wanted man and a cache of illegal drugs. The arrests happened Wednesday, July 2, after Officer Sheffield spotted two men acting suspiciously in the 300 block of Amaret Street in Fredericksburg, according to the Fredericksburg Police Department. One of the men was Damien Stewart, whom Sheffield immediately recognized as being wanted on active warrants out of Spo…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Your Community
Cash For Supplies That Never Arrived: Former DC School Official Admits Bribery Cash For Supplies That Never Arrived: Former DC School Official Admits Bribery Cash For Supplies That Never Arrived: Former DC School Official Admits Bribery
Cash For Supplies That Never Arrived: Former DC School Official Admits Bribery She was supposed to be buying supplies for students. Instead, federal prosecutors say a longtime DC school administrator was taking cash under the table while approving payments for orders that never showed up. District resident Tracy Hatton, 60, admitted to her role in the scheme after pleading guilty to bribery, according to the US Attorney's Office for DC.  The guilty plea, entered in November 2025, was unsealed Thursday, July 9. Hatton worked as the administrative officer at McKinley Technology High School, where she controlled the school's supply budget, selected vendors, approv…

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by Zak Failla
Annapolis, MD
Your Community
DOJ Sues Maryland Over 'Sanctuary' Policies, Claims State Is Blocking Immigration Enforcement DOJ Sues Maryland Over 'Sanctuary' Policies, Claims State Is Blocking Immigration Enforcement DOJ Sues Maryland Over 'Sanctuary' Policies, Claims State Is Blocking Immigration Enforcement
DOJ Sues Maryland Over 'Sanctuary' Policies, Claims State Is Blocking Immigration Enforcement Maryland is now in the Trump administration's legal crosshairs. The US Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday, July 9, accusing the state and Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown of adopting so-called sanctuary policies that federal officials say unlawfully interfere with immigration enforcement. The lawsuit claims Maryland's policies prevent state and local facilities from cooperating with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement by refusing to honor immigration detainers and transfer people in custody to federal agents. According to the Justice Department, those polic…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
Maryland Man Whose ISIS 'Plan B' Was To Target Jews Learns Prison Fate: Feds Maryland Man Whose ISIS 'Plan B' Was To Target Jews Learns Prison Fate: Feds Maryland Man Whose ISIS 'Plan B' Was To Target Jews Learns Prison Fate: Feds
Maryland Man Whose ISIS 'Plan B' Was To Target Jews Learns Prison Fate: Feds He was stopped at the airport before he could leave. Now, a Maryland man who admitted plotting to join ISIS and discussing plans to attack Jews and supporters of Israel in the US will spend the next 15 years behind bars. Michael Sam Teekaye Jr., 22, of Hanover, was sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty earlier this year to attempting to provide material support to ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland announced. According to prosecutors, Teekaye spent more than a year telling an undercover FBI officer he wanted t…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Arlington Firefighter Remembered For Infectious Smile, Positivity After Sudden Death Arlington Firefighter Remembered For Infectious Smile, Positivity After Sudden Death Arlington Firefighter Remembered For Infectious Smile, Positivity After Sudden Death
Arlington Firefighter Remembered For Infectious Smile, Positivity After Sudden Death He was the firefighter everyone wanted to work with. Whether the shift had been long or the day had gone sideways, fellow firefighters say Larry Wright always found a way to make it better. Now, the Arlington County Fire Department and firehouses across Northern Virginia are mourning Wright, who died Thursday, July 9, following a medical emergency. Wright joined the Arlington County Fire Department on Oct. 29, 2018, as a member of Recruit Class 76. During nearly eight years with the department, he served the Arlington community with what colleagues described as dedication, compassion, and …

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by Zak Failla
Glen Burnie, MD
Breaking News
Structural Scare Empties 10-Story Glen Burnie Office Building, Roads Closed (DEVELOPING) Structural Scare Empties 10-Story Glen Burnie Office Building, Roads Closed (DEVELOPING) Structural Scare Empties 10-Story Glen Burnie Office Building, Roads Closed (DEVELOPING)
Structural Scare Empties 10-Story Glen Burnie Office Building, Roads Closed (Developing) A structural scare forced the evacuation of a 10-story office building in Maryland Thursday afternoon after crews discovered shifting inside a parking garage, prompting a major emergency response and road closures. The incident happened around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, July 9, at Empire Towers in the 7300 block of Ritchie Highway in Anne Arundel County's Glen Burnie, where construction work was underway in an underground parking garage, according to the Anne Arundel County Fire Department. Initial reports suggested a possible building collapse. Fire officials later clarified that the building it…

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by Zak Failla
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