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

Olney, MD
Your Community
No Juice For The Chick: Olney Restaurant's Long-Awaited Opening Delayed Again No Juice For The Chick: Olney Restaurant's Long-Awaited Opening Delayed Again No Juice For The Chick: Olney Restaurant's Long-Awaited Opening Delayed Again
No Juice For The Chick: Olney Restaurant's Long-Awaited Opening Delayed Again Maryland, we have a problem. Chicken Salad Chick was preparing to finally open its long-awaited Olney restaurant on Wednesday, Sept. 23, complete with five days of giveaways and free food for some of its earliest customers. There’s just one fairly important thing missing. Electricity. The owners of the new restaurant at 18209 Village Center Drive in the Olney Village Center announced that the grand opening has been delayed until at least mid-October because they are still waiting for power. And they aren't hiding their frustration. “Olney Chick Friends...WE HAVE A PROBLEM,” owners Jim S…

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by Zak Failla
Leonardtown-California, MD
Your Community
Years To Build, Seconds To Wreck: Allegedly Drunk Driver Tears Through St. Mary's Dream Salon Years To Build, Seconds To Wreck: Allegedly Drunk Driver Tears Through St. Mary's Dream Salon Years To Build, Seconds To Wreck: Allegedly Drunk Driver Tears Through St. Mary's Dream Salon
Years To Build, Seconds To Wreck: Allegedly Drunk Driver Tears Through St. Mary's Dream Salon Years went into building their dream. It took seconds to tear through it. An allegedly drunk driver crashed into a Maryland salon shortly before 10:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 16, ripping through the front of the building and leaving four stylists without the workplace they spent years creating. The crash happened at The Babe Cave in the 29900 block of Point Lookout Road, where firefighters arrived to find the vehicle lodged in the front porch and entryway, according to the Mechanicsville Volunteer Fire Department. The Babe Cave Mechanicsville Fire Department via GoFundMe A util…

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by Zak Failla
Bowie, MD
Breaking News
$14M Medicaid Scheme Turned Minutes-Long Calls Into Full-Hour Bills, Bowie Nurse Admits: DOJ $14M Medicaid Scheme Turned Minutes-Long Calls Into Full-Hour Bills, Bowie Nurse Admits: DOJ $14M Medicaid Scheme Turned Minutes-Long Calls Into Full-Hour Bills, Bowie Nurse Admits: DOJ
$14M Medicaid Scheme Turned Minutes-Long Calls Into Full-Hour Bills, Bowie Nurse Admits: DOJ Millions of dollars. Thousands of claims. And some of the care allegedly never happened at all. A Maryland nurse admitted on Thursday, Sept. 17 to taking part in a sprawling $14 million DC Medicaid fraud scheme involving mental health services for children and teens, federal prosecutors said. Bowie resident Vera Nyiawung, 34, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit health care fraud after prosecutors said workers padded the length of phone calls, recycled patient notes and billed Medicaid for services that were never provided or were grossly inflated. And investigators say …

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by Zak Failla
Germantown, MD
Breaking News
Loaded Ghost Gun Found In Woods After Armed Robbery In Northwest High School Bathroom (UPDATED) Loaded Ghost Gun Found In Woods After Armed Robbery In Northwest High School Bathroom (UPDATED) Loaded Ghost Gun Found In Woods After Armed Robbery In Northwest High School Bathroom (UPDATED)
Loaded Ghost Gun Found In Woods After Armed Robbery In Northwest High School Bathroom (Updated) A reported gun inside a Maryland high school bathroom turned out to be part of something much larger. Three teens are now facing charges after police say a 15-year-old Northwest High School student pulled a handgun on another student and demanded money during an armed robbery on Thursday, Sept. 17. Montgomery County Police were called to the Germantown school at approximately 12:35 p.m., initially prompting a search for the armed student and a Secure status that kept students and staff inside. Police now say the incident began when a 15-year-old student was approached by another 15-year-ol…

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by Zak Failla
Rockville, MD
Breaking News
Accused Killer Of Beloved Soccer Coach Captured After Leaving Gaithersburg Motel (UPDATED) Accused Killer Of Beloved Soccer Coach Captured After Leaving Gaithersburg Motel (UPDATED) Accused Killer Of Beloved Soccer Coach Captured After Leaving Gaithersburg Motel (UPDATED)
Accused Killer Of Beloved Soccer Coach Captured After Leaving Gaithersburg Motel (Updated) The search for Nicholas Njuki's accused killer is over. A 21-year-old man wanted in connection with the fatal shooting of the beloved soccer coach was arrested in Maryland on Thursday, Sept. 17, four days after the deadly encounter outside a sports bar. Shayan Solimani Damabi, of Gaithersburg, was taken into custody after leaving a motel in the city by Montgomery County Police officers assigned to the US Marshals Fugitive Task Force. Police said he was arrested without incident. Solimani Damabi had been wanted on charges of first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a v…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Bike Valet Stabbed Co-Worker 12 Times Outside Audi Field Before Soccer Match, Feds Say Bike Valet Stabbed Co-Worker 12 Times Outside Audi Field Before Soccer Match, Feds Say Bike Valet Stabbed Co-Worker 12 Times Outside Audi Field Before Soccer Match, Feds Say
Bike Valet Stabbed Co-Worker 12 Times Outside Audi Field Before Soccer Match, Feds Say Wali Shabazz did not take kindly to a perceived slight from a co-worker at Audi Field. The 51-year-old District resident was convicted following a stabbing incident involving a co-worker who showed up to work late one afternoon, according to federal authorities. According to prosecutors, Shabazz and Gross were scheduled to work at a bike valet service outside Audi Field on April 27, 2024, just before a DC United match. The two barely knew each other. Gross showed up very late for his shift and attempted to apologize to the other valets. Everyone acknowledged him except Shabazz, prosecutor…

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by Zak Failla
Severn, MD
Breaking News
No Lights, No Helmet Before High-Speed Motorcycle Crash Outside Severn Dunkin': Police No Lights, No Helmet Before High-Speed Motorcycle Crash Outside Severn Dunkin': Police No Lights, No Helmet Before High-Speed Motorcycle Crash Outside Severn Dunkin': Police
No Lights, No Helmet Before High-Speed Motorcycle Crash Outside Severn Dunkin': Police No lights. No helmet. A 25-year-old motorcyclist was critically injured in Maryland late Wednesday night after police say he was speeding when he slammed into an SUV turning into a Dunkin' location. The crash happened at approximately 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 16 near Annapolis Road and Parkside Boulevard in Severn, according to the Anne Arundel County Police Department. Investigators say the 25-year-old Severn man was riding a 2020 Dong Fing CSR motorcycle east on Annapolis Road at a high rate of speed when a 2016 Ford Escape began turning left into the Dunkin' in the 2700 block. The motorcycle…

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by Zak Failla
Lexington Park, MD
Breaking News
Speed, Alcohol Eyed After Passenger Ejected, Killed In Maryland Rollover Crash: Sheriff Speed, Alcohol Eyed After Passenger Ejected, Killed In Maryland Rollover Crash: Sheriff Speed, Alcohol Eyed After Passenger Ejected, Killed In Maryland Rollover Crash: Sheriff
Speed, Alcohol Eyed After Passenger Ejected, Killed In Maryland Rollover Crash: Sheriff One person never made it out alive. A passenger was ejected and killed in a violent Maryland rollover crash on Wednesday evening, Sept. 16, while two others escaped with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, authorities said. Wicomico County Sheriff's deputies and Mardela Volunteer Fire Department crews were called to the area of Norris Twilley Road and Norfolk Drive in Delmar at approximately 5:14 p.m. following reports of an injury crash. Investigators say the vehicle went off the road and overturned multiple times. One of the passengers was thrown from the vehicle dur…

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by Zak Failla
Adelphi-Langley Park, MD
Breaking News
33 Years Later, Man Charged With Murder Of 10-Year-Old Adelphi Boy Junior Burdynski In Maryland 33 Years Later, Man Charged With Murder Of 10-Year-Old Adelphi Boy Junior Burdynski In Maryland 33 Years Later, Man Charged With Murder Of 10-Year-Old Adelphi Boy Junior Burdynski In Maryland
33 Years Later, Man Charged With Murder Of 10-Year-Old Adelphi Boy Junior Burdynski In Maryland For 33 years, no one had been charged with killing Junior Burdynski. That changed this week when Maryland investigators said a new sex abuse case led them to a witness who told detectives what happened to the 10-year-old boy on the day he vanished in 1993. Prince George's County Police announced on Thursday, Sept. 17, that 61-year-old Joseph Lynch has been charged with murdering George "Junior" Burdynski Jr., who disappeared while riding his bicycle in his Brentwood neighborhood. Junior Burdynski Prince George's County Police His body has never been found. Junior was last seen on …

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by Zak Failla
Rockville, MD
Breaking News
Worker's Arm Trapped In Industrial Mixer As Shock Trauma Team Rushes To Rockville (DEVELOPING) Worker's Arm Trapped In Industrial Mixer As Shock Trauma Team Rushes To Rockville (DEVELOPING) Worker's Arm Trapped In Industrial Mixer As Shock Trauma Team Rushes To Rockville (DEVELOPING)
Worker's Arm Trapped In Industrial Mixer As Shock Trauma Team Rushes To Rockville (Developing) A worker got caught in an industrial mixer at a Maryland business on Thursday afternoon. The accident was reported at Omega 3 Nutrition in the 1300 block of East Gude Drive near Southlawn Lane in Rockville on Sept. 17, according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson Pete Piringer. Firefighters were called to the manufacturing business shortly before 3:30 p.m. for a reported traumatic injury involving a worker whose extremity had become entangled in machinery. Officials later said the worker's arm and hand were actively trapped in what was described as an industrial mixe…

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by Zak Failla
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