Zak Failla

Assistant Managing Editor

[email protected]

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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

Manassas, VA
Obituaries
Manassas Family Mourning Nonverbal Autistic 9-Year-Old Remembered As ‘Ray Of Sunshine’ Manassas Family Mourning Nonverbal Autistic 9-Year-Old Remembered As ‘Ray Of Sunshine’ Manassas Family Mourning Nonverbal Autistic 9-Year-Old Remembered As ‘Ray Of Sunshine’
Manassas Family Mourning Nonverbal Autistic 9-Year-Old Remembered As ‘Ray Of Sunshine’ A Virginia family is in mourning after a nonverbal autistic child was struck and killed by an unlicensed driver. Mathew Vargas. Vargas, the grandson of the owners of El Taco in Manassas, is being remembered as a boy who "brought so much joy" to those closest to him before his death. The 9-year-old was struck by Jacinto Josue Ezequiel Jacinto Morales on Route 28 late on Monday, April 13, when he got out of his house and ran across the roadway. He was struck shortly before 10 p.m. in the area of Centreville Road and Leland Road. After being struck, bystanders immediately began to perform CP…

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by Zak Failla
Silver Spring, MD
Breaking News
Car Torched Outside Silver Spring Cemetery Sparks Arson Investigation Overnight (DEVELOPING) Car Torched Outside Silver Spring Cemetery Sparks Arson Investigation Overnight (DEVELOPING) Car Torched Outside Silver Spring Cemetery Sparks Arson Investigation Overnight (DEVELOPING)
Car Torched Outside Silver Spring Cemetery Sparks Arson Investigation Overnight (Developing) An arson investigation has been launched in Maryland after a car was found torched outside of a cemetery overnight. First responders were called shortly before 4 a.m. on Wednesday, April 15, to the 13800 block of Georgia Avenue, where a car fire was reported in Silver Spring. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue crews were called to the front of Gate of Heaven Cemetery, where firefighters were met by a car that was fully engulfed in flames. 13800 Georgia Ave. between Connecticut Avenue & Aspen Hill Road, near entrance to Gate of Heaven cemetery, Vehicle Fire, @mcfrs on scene vehicle ‘w…

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by Zak Failla
Odenton, MD
Breaking News
Police Seek Suspect Months After Fatal Shooting Of Baltimore Father In Odenton Police Seek Suspect Months After Fatal Shooting Of Baltimore Father In Odenton Police Seek Suspect Months After Fatal Shooting Of Baltimore Father In Odenton
Police Seek Suspect Months After Fatal Shooting Of Baltimore Father In Odenton Police are seeking the public's assistance months after a 45-year-old Baltimore father was gunned down in Anne Arundel County. An alert was issued on Wednesday, April 15, as they continue to investigate the fatal shooting of Timothy Leslie Randolph in January. Officers were called around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 10, to the 1600 block of Annapolis Road in Odenton, where there were reports of a shooting, according to police. When officers from the Anne Arundel County Police Department arrived, they found Randolph suffering from a gunshot wound. He was rushed to Baltimore Washington Medic…

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by Zak Failla
Bethesda, MD
Your Community
Teen Charged With Making Threats Of Mass Violence At Bradley Hill Elementary School (UPDATED) Teen Charged With Making Threats Of Mass Violence At Bradley Hill Elementary School (UPDATED) Teen Charged With Making Threats Of Mass Violence At Bradley Hill Elementary School (UPDATED)
Teen Charged With Making Threats Of Mass Violence At Bradley Hill Elementary School (Updated) A suspect is now in custody after a series of troubling incidents at a Maryland elementary school left families on edge. Montgomery County Police announced on Wednesday, April 15, that a 16-year-old Walt Whitman High School student has been arrested in connection with the vandalism at Bradley Hills Elementary School in Bethesda. The arrest comes days after graffiti referencing a prior school shooting was discovered on campus, along with a separate fire incident involving a shed on school property. Those incidents prompted an increased police presence at the school and raised concerns among…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Second Child Dies After Midday Northeast DC Shooting: Metropolitan Police Second Child Dies After Midday Northeast DC Shooting: Metropolitan Police Second Child Dies After Midday Northeast DC Shooting: Metropolitan Police
Second Child Dies After Midday Northeast DC Shooting: Metropolitan Police A second child has died after a midday shooting in DC, the Metropolitan Police Department has confirmed. Northeast DC natives Tyale Coates, 14, and Mhilo Young, 12, have been identified by the agency as the two who were shot and later died from their injuries on Tuesday afternoon. According to police, shortly before 3:30 p.m. on April 14, officers were called to the 700 block of Kenilworth Avenue NE to investigate the reported shooting involving two minors. Coates was pronounced dead at the scene by DC Fire and EMS personnel. Young was rushed to an area hospital for treatment of life-threa…

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by Zak Failla
Bethesda, MD
Breaking News
Woman Found Dead, Man Rescued From Fast-Moving Overnight Bethesda House Fire Woman Found Dead, Man Rescued From Fast-Moving Overnight Bethesda House Fire Woman Found Dead, Man Rescued From Fast-Moving Overnight Bethesda House Fire
Woman Found Dead, Man Rescued From Fast-Moving Overnight Bethesda House Fire A woman was killed and a man was hospitalized overnight when a fast-moving fire tore through a Maryland home, officials say. Around 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 15, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue crews were called to the 9100 block of Charred Oak Drive in Bethesda after a neighbor reported a house fire in the area. Upon arrival, firefighters found a two-story home fully engulfed in flames with a partial roof collapse. Twitter/@mcfrsPIO According to officials, one person was rescued and rushed to the hospital. A second person inside the home did not survive and was unable to escape. …

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by Zak Failla
Waldorf, MD
Breaking News
Waldorf Fire Destroys Home, Leaves Families With ‘Nothing But The Clothes On Their Backs’ Waldorf Fire Destroys Home, Leaves Families With ‘Nothing But The Clothes On Their Backs’ Waldorf Fire Destroys Home, Leaves Families With ‘Nothing But The Clothes On Their Backs’
Waldorf Fire Destroys Home, Leaves Families With ‘Nothing But The Clothes On Their Backs’ A fast-moving fire tore through a Southern Maryland home over the weekend, displacing two families that were left with nothing. In Charles County, crews were called around 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 12 to the 2000 block of Rosewood Drive, where they were met by a two-story home fully engulfed in flames. Firefighters attacked the blaze from both inside and outside the home, working for about two hours to bring the fire under control, officials said. But the damage was done. The Charles County fire. Waldorf Fire Department The fire destroyed the home shared by members of the King and…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Scooter Crash, $100 Pants Demand Leads To Robbery: 3-Time Felon Sentenced In DC Scooter Crash, $100 Pants Demand Leads To Robbery: 3-Time Felon Sentenced In DC Scooter Crash, $100 Pants Demand Leads To Robbery: 3-Time Felon Sentenced In DC
Scooter Crash, $100 Pants Demand Leads To Robbery: 3-Time Felon Sentenced In DC A bizarre chain of events in DC ended with a robbery, a foot chase, and a loaded gun — and now a repeat offender is heading to federal prison. Naquel Matao Henderson, 28, a three-time convicted felon from the District, was sentenced to 56 months in prison on Tuesday, April 14, in US District Court after a street robbery in Northeast turned violent, prosecutors said. The incident started in an unusual way. Around 2:15 p.m. on June 24, 2024, near 15th Street and Benning Road NE, Henderson crashed a motorized scooter into a car stopped at a traffic light, according to court documents. …

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by Zak Failla
Annapolis, MD
Your Community
Maryland Set To Become First State To Designate Shark — And It’s A Giant Prehistoric One Maryland Set To Become First State To Designate Shark — And It’s A Giant Prehistoric One Maryland Set To Become First State To Designate Shark — And It’s A Giant Prehistoric One
Maryland Set To Become First State To Designate Shark — And It’s A Giant Prehistoric One Maryland is about to make history by naming a shark that hasn’t existed for millions of years as its official state symbol. Lawmakers approved legislation late Monday, April 13, designating Otodus megalodon — the largest shark to have ever lived — as Maryland’s official State Shark, according to officials. If signed into law, Maryland would become the first state in the nation to recognize an official state shark. The choice wasn’t random. Megalodon fossils, including massive teeth, have been found throughout the Chesapeake Bay region and across Maryland, tying the prehistoric predator di…

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by Zak Failla
Woodbridge, VA
Obituaries
Father Loses Second Son In Two Years After Fatal Woodbridge Crash: 'I Don't Understand' Father Loses Second Son In Two Years After Fatal Woodbridge Crash: 'I Don't Understand' Father Loses Second Son In Two Years After Fatal Woodbridge Crash: 'I Don't Understand'
Father Loses Second Son In Two Years After Fatal Woodbridge Crash: 'I Don't Understand' A Virginia father is mourning the loss of his second son in less than two years after a deadly crash in Woodbridge. Manassas resident Joseph Franklin “Joey” LeDoux, 41, was killed on Friday afternoon when he pulled out of a private road and was involved in the fatal crash. According to the Prince William County Police Department, around 2:30 p.m. on April 10, officers were called to the intersection of Harbor Drive and a private road in the 12700 block of Harbor Drive to investigate a crash. Investigators say that Ledoux was driving a 2014 Hyundai Sonata and entered Harbor Drive from a pri…

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by Zak Failla
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