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

Waldorf, MD
Breaking News
'He Thought He Was Safe': Maryland Killer Sentenced In Brutal Bedroom Stabbing In Waldorf 'He Thought He Was Safe': Maryland Killer Sentenced In Brutal Bedroom Stabbing In Waldorf 'He Thought He Was Safe': Maryland Killer Sentenced In Brutal Bedroom Stabbing In Waldorf
'He Thought He Was Safe': Maryland Killer Sentenced In Brutal Bedroom Stabbing In Waldorf A Maryland man who senselessly butchered a man inside a home years ago will spend decades in prison. Scott Anthony Goldsmith, 55, was convicted in March by a Charles County jury in connection with the killing of Timothy Louis Portzen and the assault of a woman in La Plata in October 2023, according to the state's attorney's office. On Wednesday, May 27, authorities announced that he had been sentenced to 48 years in prison for the violent assault in Southern Maryland. “The facts of this case warrant an above-guideline sentence," Assistant State’s Attorney Kate Edmands said at sentencing wh…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
One Forgotten Phone Led To A Young Father’s Murder In Southeast DC, Jury Finds One Forgotten Phone Led To A Young Father’s Murder In Southeast DC, Jury Finds One Forgotten Phone Led To A Young Father’s Murder In Southeast DC, Jury Finds
One Forgotten Phone Led To A Young Father’s Murder In Southeast DC, Jury Finds If Kenneth Barksdale remembered his phone, he may still be alive. Instead, the 28-year-old father walked straight into a deadly ambush outside his own home. Now, his shooter is facing a lengthy prison stay. District resident D'Andre Montgomery, 20, was found guilty in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia in connection with the violent murder of the young father in Southeast DC in December 2023. According to federal prosecutors, at around 8 p.m. on Dec. 16, 2023, Montgomery, Kevin Hider, 20, and Eric Sheffield, 21, were driving around the 1200 block of 44th Place SE, pullin…

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by Zak Failla
National Interest
Hair Fragments Found On Saw Could Crush Husband's Defense In Manassas Park Murder Case: Report Hair Fragments Found On Saw Could Crush Husband's Defense In Manassas Park Murder Case: Report Hair Fragments Found On Saw Could Crush Husband's Defense In Manassas Park Murder Case: Report
Hair Fragments Found On Saw Could Crush Husband's Defense In Manassas Park Murder Case: Report New evidence has been uncovered in Virginia nearly two years after Mamta Kafle Bhatt was reported missing from her Manassas Park home, according to multiple reports. Three human hairs and several hair fragments that are reportedly tied to the disappearance of the 28-year-old mother in July 2024 were recovered from a saw, investigators with Virginia's Department of Forensic Science said. The hairs will now be tested by state officials as prosecutors continue to investigate the strange disappearance. Kafle Bhatt's husband, Naresh Bhatt, has been charged with her murder, while her bo…

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by Zak Failla
Rockville, MD
Breaking News
Distinctive Arm Tattoos Could Help ID Prince George’s County Bank Robbery Suspect (VIDEO) Distinctive Arm Tattoos Could Help ID Prince George’s County Bank Robbery Suspect (VIDEO) Distinctive Arm Tattoos Could Help ID Prince George’s County Bank Robbery Suspect (VIDEO)
Distinctive Arm Tattoos Could Help ID Prince George’s County Bank Robbery Suspect (Video) Recognize him? Photos and video of a wanted bank robber in Maryland have been released by investigators as they continue working to identify and locate a man who targeted a Prince George's County branch earlier this month. At around 9:45 a.m. on Monday, May 18, police say a man with distinctive tattoos and a black hat walked into a bank in the 3400 block of Donnell Drive in Forestville, where he passed a note to an employee demanding cash. In the video shared by police on Wednesday, the man can be seen casually walking into the bank, surreptitiously slipping the note to the teller, then wa…

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by Zak Failla
Williamsport, MD
Breaking News
‘Our Home Was Destroyed’: Boonsboro Family Begins Rebuilding After Massive House Fire ‘Our Home Was Destroyed’: Boonsboro Family Begins Rebuilding After Massive House Fire ‘Our Home Was Destroyed’: Boonsboro Family Begins Rebuilding After Massive House Fire
‘Our Home Was Destroyed’: Boonsboro Family Begins Rebuilding After Massive House Fire One day after a gas-fed fireball tore through a Maryland neighborhood and lit up the early morning sky in Washington County, the Kirkpatrick family is beginning the painful reality of starting over. Their home is gone. The garage where investigators believe the fire started has collapsed into blackened rubble. Twisted metal, charred beams, and melted belongings now sit where the family’s life once stood. The fire in Washington County. Facebook via George Fitzpatrick But somehow, everyone made it out alive. George and Kelly Kirkpatrick, along with daughters Kennedy and Kiley and th…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Man With No Address Sexually Assaulted Woman In Arlington Garage Stairwell, Police Say Man With No Address Sexually Assaulted Woman In Arlington Garage Stairwell, Police Say Man With No Address Sexually Assaulted Woman In Arlington Garage Stairwell, Police Say
Man With No Address Sexually Assaulted Woman In Arlington Garage Stairwell, Police Say An uncomfortable encounter with a stranger in a Northern Virginia parking garage landed a homeless man behind bars on sexual abuse charges, police say. Cristobal Vasquez Sanchez, 25, was arrested after allegedly inappropriately touching a woman inside a residential parking garage, according to the Arlington County Police Department Special Victims Unit. Investigators say that shortly after 10:30 p.m. on Friday, May 22, officers were dispatched to the 5500 block of Columbia Pike, where there was a reported assault. It was determined that a woman was in a stairwell when Vasquez Sanchez …

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by Zak Failla
College Park, MD
Breaking News
Car Slams Into Oxygen Tank Outside Chillum Nursing Facility, Triggering HazMat Response Car Slams Into Oxygen Tank Outside Chillum Nursing Facility, Triggering HazMat Response Car Slams Into Oxygen Tank Outside Chillum Nursing Facility, Triggering HazMat Response
Car Slams Into Oxygen Tank Outside Chillum Nursing Facility, Triggering HazMat Response A vehicle smashed into a liquid oxygen tank outside of an assisted living facility in Maryland, triggering a multi-agency HazMat emergency response on Wednesday morning. Shortly after 9:15 a.m. on May 27, first responders were called to the Complete Care Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation in the 4900 block of La Salle Road in Chillum, according to Prince George's County Fire and EMS officials. Early reports from the scene raised fears of a possible mass patient care incident after the vehicle struck an exterior liquid oxygen tank connected to the facility. That immediately led to a large…

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by Zak Failla
Ashburn, VA
Breaking News
Woman Hit In Ashburn Roadway, Then Carried Into Pickup Truck Before Driver Vanished: Sheriff Woman Hit In Ashburn Roadway, Then Carried Into Pickup Truck Before Driver Vanished: Sheriff Woman Hit In Ashburn Roadway, Then Carried Into Pickup Truck Before Driver Vanished: Sheriff
Woman Hit In Ashburn Roadway, Then Carried Into Pickup Truck Before Driver Vanished: Sheriff A woman struck in the middle of a Virginia roadway was then picked up by a man, carried into a black pickup truck, and driven away before deputies got answers, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office. Now, the agency is putting together the pieces. The strange chain of events unfolded around 4:50 p.m. on Thursday, May 21, at the intersection of Farmwell Drive and Hemingway Drive in Ashburn, investigators said. Deputies responding to the scene found witnesses describing something straight out of a movie scene.  A woman had reportedly been hit in the roadway, and before first …

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by Zak Failla
Hagerstown, MD
Breaking News
Bus Fire Shuts Down I-70 In Washington County Near I-81 During Rainy Morning Commute Bus Fire Shuts Down I-70 In Washington County Near I-81 During Rainy Morning Commute Bus Fire Shuts Down I-70 In Washington County Near I-81 During Rainy Morning Commute
Bus Fire Shuts Down I-70 In Washington County Near I-81 During Rainy Morning Commute Drivers hit the brakes on I-70 Wednesday morning after a bus burst into flames near the busy I-81 interchange in Washington County. The fire broke out around 6:40 a.m. on the westbound side of I-70 near Exit 26 in the Hagerstown area, shutting down all westbound lanes during the rainy morning commute. Traffic cameras showed thick backups stretching behind the scene as emergency crews surrounded the burning bus. According to multiple reports, the fire started after a tire blew out. Students and the driver were able to get off the bus safely before flames spread through the vehicle. By mid…

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by Zak Failla
Fredericksburg, VA
Breaking News
Woman Nearly Loses Leg After Car Crashes Into Virginia Restaurant Patio: 'It's A Miracle' Woman Nearly Loses Leg After Car Crashes Into Virginia Restaurant Patio: 'It's A Miracle' Woman Nearly Loses Leg After Car Crashes Into Virginia Restaurant Patio: 'It's A Miracle'
Woman Nearly Loses Leg After Car Crashes Into Virginia Restaurant Patio: 'It's A Miracle' What started as a normal meal outside at a Virginia Beach restaurant turned into months of surgeries, physical therapy, and emotional recovery for Ann Marie Jochum after a car slammed into the outdoor seating area where she was sitting, according to her family. Loved ones say it’s a miracle she survived. A GoFundMe created to support Jochum’s recovery says she was struck by a car driven by “an irresponsible youth” while sitting at an outdoor restaurant table in Virginia Beach. The crash left her with catastrophic injuries to her left leg that nearly resulted in amputation, according to the…

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by Zak Failla
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