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

Gaithersburg, MD
Breaking News
Instagram Weed Setup Led To Execution-Style Killing Over $70 In Gaithersburg, Prosecutors Say Instagram Weed Setup Led To Execution-Style Killing Over $70 In Gaithersburg, Prosecutors Say Instagram Weed Setup Led To Execution-Style Killing Over $70 In Gaithersburg, Prosecutors Say
Instagram Weed Setup Led To Execution-Style Killing Over $70 In Gaithersburg, Prosecutors Say $75 worth of weed. That's what 20-year-old Henry Krishawn Gilbert's life was worth in Maryland. Now, his killer may spend the rest of his life in prison. Jorden Hungerford, 20, was convicted in Montgomery County of murder and other violent offenses in connection with the April 2025 death of Gilbert in Gaithersburg, authorities announced on Tuesday. Gilbert's body was found inside a green Honda Civic that struck a curb with the engine still running on April 26, 2025, according to prosecutors. He had been shot in the head, execution-style. Police determined that Hungerford and Demari Brown…

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by Zak Failla
Triangle-Dumfries, VA
Obituaries
Jonathan Ferreyra Remembered As ‘Kind-Hearted’ Son After Gas Station Murder In Dumfries Jonathan Ferreyra Remembered As ‘Kind-Hearted’ Son After Gas Station Murder In Dumfries Jonathan Ferreyra Remembered As ‘Kind-Hearted’ Son After Gas Station Murder In Dumfries
Jonathan Ferreyra Remembered As ‘Kind-Hearted’ Son After Gas Station Murder In Dumfries The 20-year-old Virginia man who was stabbed to death by a gas station employee during an altercation is being remembered as a "kind-hearted individual who always put his family first."  Support is swelling for the family of Woodbridge native Jonathan Ferreyra, who was assaulted over the weekend and found near the gas pump of a Shell station in Prince William County. Police say Ferreyra was involved in a fight with an employee shortly after midnight on Sunday, May 17, at the Dumfries Road gas station. Investigators say Ferreyra got into an argument with Michael Orl…

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by Zak Failla
Sterling, VA
Weather
Northern Virginia Bakes As Dulles Hits Record High Temperatures In Rare May Heat Spike Northern Virginia Bakes As Dulles Hits Record High Temperatures In Rare May Heat Spike Northern Virginia Bakes As Dulles Hits Record High Temperatures In Rare May Heat Spike
Northern Virginia Bakes As Dulles Hits Record High Temperatures In Rare May Heat Spike If it felt more like late July than mid-May in Northern Virginia on Monday, there’s a reason. Washington Dulles International Airport hit 95 degrees on Monday, May 18, setting a new record high for the date, according to the National Weather Service. The old May 18 record at Dulles was 91 degrees, set in 1987, officials said. Monday’s heat blew right past it. The brutal early-season heat settled over the DMV before storms even had a chance to fire up. “As of 12:56 p.m. on Monday, no showers or storms in our area yet, but you can see the clouds starting to ‘bubble’ over western MD, eastern…

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by Zak Failla
Hagerstown, MD
Breaking News
Teens Who Sparked Two-Alarm Apartment Inferno In Maryland Face Arson Charges: Fire Marshal Teens Who Sparked Two-Alarm Apartment Inferno In Maryland Face Arson Charges: Fire Marshal Teens Who Sparked Two-Alarm Apartment Inferno In Maryland Face Arson Charges: Fire Marshal
Teens Who Sparked Two-Alarm Apartment Inferno In Maryland Face Arson Charges: Fire Marshal Four teens who torched a vacant building in Maryland are facing arson charges, according to the State Fire Marshal. Deputy State Fire Marshals have charged four juveniles after a two-alarm fire heavily damaged a vacant four-story apartment building in Cumberland earlier this year, authorities announced on Tuesday, May 19. According to investigators, shortly before 6 p.m. on March 28, crews from the Cumberland Fire Department and surrounding agencies were called to a building on Baltimore Street, where there was a reported fire. Approximately 60 firefighters worked for more than an hour …

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by Zak Failla
Westminster, MD
Breaking News
$6M In Damage Reported After Massive Battery Warehouse Fire Shuts Down Route 140 In Westminster $6M In Damage Reported After Massive Battery Warehouse Fire Shuts Down Route 140 In Westminster $6M In Damage Reported After Massive Battery Warehouse Fire Shuts Down Route 140 In Westminster
$6M In Damage Reported After Massive Battery Warehouse Fire Shuts Down Route 140 In Westminster Millions of dollars in damages were reported when Battery Warehouse went up in flames on Monday night, sparking a two-alarm HazMat situation. Shortly before 7:30 p.m. on May 18, first responders from the Westminster Fire Department and surrounding agencies were called to the warehouse in the 800 block of Baltimore Boulevard in Westminster, after a passerby spotted smoke coming from the business. First-arriving crews in Westminster encountered a working fire inside the one-story warehouse and called for additional alarms as conditions worsened, officials said. Foam units, HazMat teams, a…

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by Zak Failla
Leesburg, VA
Breaking News
Leesburg Man Accused Of Strangling Infant To Death Hit With Aggravated Murder Charge: Police Leesburg Man Accused Of Strangling Infant To Death Hit With Aggravated Murder Charge: Police Leesburg Man Accused Of Strangling Infant To Death Hit With Aggravated Murder Charge: Police
Leesburg Man Accused Of Strangling Infant To Death Hit With Aggravated Murder Charge: Police The Virginia man accused of brutally strangling an infant who later died from her injuries is facing new charges, authorities announced. Alvaro Mejia Ayala, 22, was indicted by a Loudoun County grand jury on additional charges for the September 2025 assault of an 8-month-old girl who was choked and killed, according to the Leesburg Police Department. At around 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, officers were called to the unit block of Hancock Place NE for a report of a child not breathing. The infant was taken to an area hospital in critical condition after investigators said she …

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by Zak Failla
National Interest
Trump Demands DOJ Probe After Maryland Election Error Impacts 500K+ Mail-In Ballots Trump Demands DOJ Probe After Maryland Election Error Impacts 500K+ Mail-In Ballots Trump Demands DOJ Probe After Maryland Election Error Impacts 500K+ Mail-In Ballots
Trump Demands DOJ Probe After Maryland Election Error Impacts 500K+ Mail-In Ballots More than 500,000 Maryland voters are now being sent replacement mail-in ballots after a major printing error triggered confusion across the state and sparked a political firestorm involving President Donald Trump, Gov. Wes Moore, and the Department of Justice. The Maryland State Board of Elections confirmed that a coding mistake by its mail-in ballot vendor resulted in some voters receiving ballots for the wrong political party ahead of the June 23 gubernatorial primary election. Because officials could not determine which voters received the wrong ballots and which received the correct on…

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by Zak Failla
Hagerstown, MD
Breaking News
7th Suspect Arrested In Clear Spring Triple-Murder House Fire; Purple AR-Style Gun Seized: MSP 7th Suspect Arrested In Clear Spring Triple-Murder House Fire; Purple AR-Style Gun Seized: MSP 7th Suspect Arrested In Clear Spring Triple-Murder House Fire; Purple AR-Style Gun Seized: MSP
7th Suspect Arrested In Clear Spring Triple-Murder House Fire; Purple Ar-style Gun Seized: MSP A seventh suspect has now been charged in the horrifying Maryland triple-murder house fire that left three people dead inside a burning Washington County home last year — and investigators say the case is still growing. Jordan Conley Robey, 20, of Hagerstown, was arrested Thursday, May 18, in connection with the murders of Brittany Ray, 31, Harold Fliechman, 36, and Brianna Mae Weishaar, 25, Maryland State Police announced. Robey was indicted by a Washington County Grand Jury on three counts of first-degree murder, arson, robbery, and additional offenses tied to the Nov. 18, 2025, killings.…

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by Zak Failla
Fredericksburg, VA
Breaking News
Pink Teddy Bear In Cowboy Boots Allegedly Following Kids Sparks Panic In Fredericksburg Pink Teddy Bear In Cowboy Boots Allegedly Following Kids Sparks Panic In Fredericksburg Pink Teddy Bear In Cowboy Boots Allegedly Following Kids Sparks Panic In Fredericksburg
Pink Teddy Bear In Cowboy Boots Allegedly Following Kids Sparks Panic In Fredericksburg Police in Northern Virginia are hunting a pink teddy bear in cowboy boots that looks like it escaped from the world’s most unholy children’s birthday party. Alarm bells are sounding for some in Fredericksburg as officers attempt to track down a terrifying-looking teddy bear who has reportedly been following kids around. An alert was issued by the Fredericksburg Police Department on Monday, May 18, following reports of unsettling sightings that have left many on edge. According to police, at around 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 14, the agency received a report of suspicious activity in the Laf…

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by Zak Failla
Burtonsville, MD
Breaking News
Son Stabbed Mother To Death In Burtonsville, Fled Down I-95 Before Truck Stop Arrest: Police Son Stabbed Mother To Death In Burtonsville, Fled Down I-95 Before Truck Stop Arrest: Police Son Stabbed Mother To Death In Burtonsville, Fled Down I-95 Before Truck Stop Arrest: Police
Son Stabbed Mother To Death In Burtonsville, Fled Down I-95 Before Truck Stop Arrest: Police A 28-year-old Maryland man accused of murdering his mother and fleeing the state has been apprehended days after she was found stabbed to death, authorities announced. Burtonsville resident Ricardo Adelso Colato Salamanca is being held in a North Carolina jail following an investigation into the brutal weekend stabbing of his 50-year-old mother, according to the Montgomery County Department of Police. Officers were called shortly before 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 16, to a home in the 3900 block of Blackburn Lane in Burtonsville, to conduct a welfare check on Glenda Patricia Salamanca…

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by Zak Failla
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