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

Rockville, MD

Obituaries

'Beloved Coach' Nicholas Njuki Mourned After Deadly Rockville Restaurant Encounter To his family, Nicholas Franklin Njuki was a beloved son and brother. To others, he was Coach Nick. The 33-year-old Gaithersburg man was shot and killed early Sunday, Sept. 13 following a confrontation that began inside Quincy’s on Seven Locks Road in Rockville, according to Montgomery County Police. Now, as detectives search for his killer, Njuki’s family and friends are making sure he is remembered for everything that came before that night. A son. A brother. A friend. A coach. A mentor. “Nicholas was a cherished son, brother, family member, friend, coach, and mentor whose life tou…

by Zak Failla

09/16/2026

Alexandria, VA

Breaking News

Virginia Man Flushed Cocaine During Standoff, But Couldn't Hide Kilo Of Crystal Meth: Feds Someone was breaking bad in Virginia. More than a kilogram of crystal methamphetamine, pounds of marijuana, cocaine, and multiple guns were among the haul investigators tied to Alonzo Lee Bonner Jr. during searches in Dinwiddie and Petersburg, federal prosecutors said. Nearly three years later, the 39-year-old Petersburg man is heading to federal prison for more than two decades. Bonner was sentenced on Tuesday, Sept. 15, to 21 years and 10 months behind bars for federal drug and firearms crimes, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. The case dates ba…

by Zak Failla

09/16/2026

Fairfax, VA

Your Community

Case Against 3-Time Deportee Released In Fairfax County Gets Even More Disturbing: Feds The case against Roni Mendez Escobar got uglier. The 33-year-old Guatemalan national was sentenced in Virginia on Wednesday, Sept. 16, to six years and five months in federal prison after investigators found 46 images and 65 videos of child sexual abuse material on his electronic devices. But prosecutors say Mendez Escobar wasn't just collecting it. He used WhatsApp to distribute child sexual abuse material, encourage others to consume it, and chat and video-call young girls, according to federal court documents. Some of the material depicted the sexual abuse and exploitation of prepubesc…

by Zak Failla

09/16/2026

Pikesville, MD

Your Community

Caroll Spriggs II Makes History As Maryland's First African American State Fire Marshal Maryland has its first African American State Fire Marshal in the department's 132-year history. Caroll H. Spriggs II, 53, was appointed to a six-year term leading the Office of the State Fire Marshal, Maryland State Police announced on Wednesday, Sept. 16. Spriggs takes over the nation's oldest state fire marshal's office after a career that has included leadership roles in Prince George's County and Annapolis, along with work involving federal explosives investigations. Before his appointment, Spriggs served as a deputy fire chief with the Prince George's County Fire and Emergency Medica…

by Zak Failla

09/16/2026

Lexington Park, MD

Breaking News

Maryland Woman Killed After Driver Blows Through Stop Sign In Delaware: Police A Maryland woman was killed after another driver failed to stop at a stop sign and crashed into her SUV in Delaware, police said. The 54-year-old Mardela Springs woman was driving south on Old Stage Road in Laurel at around 5:50 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 15, when the crash happened at Salt Barn Road, according to Delaware State Police. Investigators say a 32-year-old Laurel man driving a Ford Maverick was heading west on Salt Barn Road when he failed to stop at the stop sign. The Ford struck the driver's side of the woman's Honda HR-V, police said. She was taken to an area hospital, where sh…

by Zak Failla

09/16/2026

Alexandria, VA

Breaking News

Virginia Teen Wakes Up, Talks To Family After High School Altercation Lands Him In ICU Irvin Rodriguez Gaitan is awake, but the Virginia high schooler is still facing a long battle after a violent fight, his family says. An altercation at Meadowbrook High School led to Rodriguez Gaitan being hospitalized with serious injuries in the ICU, leaving his loved ones "praying for his recovery." "This situation has affected our family very badly," Rodriguez Gaitan's brother, Kevin Rodriguez, wrote this week. "We are doing everything we can to stay close to him and support him through this, while also trying to carry the weight of everything this emergency has brought into …

by Zak Failla

09/16/2026

Riverdale, MD

Your Community

One Year Out Of High School, Riverdale Teen Becomes Millionaire With Massive Lottery Win At 19 years old, one Maryland teen already has made his first million. And then some. Just a year removed from high school, the Riverdale resident was learning the ropes as an electrician's apprentice when an occasional lottery ticket turned into a life-changing $4.2 million Multi-Match jackpot. Before the win, there wasn't much of a lottery routine. "I just buy them sometimes," he said. A few tickets every other week was about it, usually from Town Center Market on Queensbury Road in Riverdale. Then came a clue he couldn't ignore. The teen was browsing the Maryland Lottery website when…

by Zak Failla

09/16/2026

McLean, VA

Obituaries

Vienna Dad Gets Five Kids Ready For School, Never Makes It Home From Construction Job In McLean It was supposed to be another ordinary workday. A Virginia father helped get his five children ready for school on Wednesday, Sept. 9, hugged his family goodbye, and headed to his construction job. He never came home. Elmer Fabricio Ventura Izaguirre, 41, left his Vienna home that morning for work in McLean, according to a fundraiser launched for his wife, Yesi Flores, and their children. Around lunchtime, Ventura Izaguirre went to his car to eat. When he did not return, his coworkers became concerned and went to check on him. They found that he had died unexpectedly from a heart attack,…

by Zak Failla

09/16/2026

Alexandria, VA

Breaking News

Fake Online Biz Funded Luxury Homes, Cars In $3.5M Virginia Fraud Scheme: Feds Alexander Olave was selling the dream of easy money online. Prosecutors say he was the only one getting rich. The 35-year-old Manassas man was sentenced in Virginia to two years and nine months in federal prison after approximately 100 victims poured more than $3.5 million into an e-commerce operation built on promises that weren't true. Olave ran AO Elite, pitching customers a “done-for-you” online business that would build and maintain e-commerce storefronts on their behalf. His purported track record was impressive. Hundreds of stores. $112 million in revenue generated for clients. Gu…

by Zak Failla

09/16/2026

College Park, MD

Breaking News

Sleeping UMD Student Wakes To Man Opening Bedroom Door During Burglary Spree: Police One University of Maryland student woke up to find her bedroom door opening. It was among a series of encounters in College Park that led campus police to charge two Maryland men following five reported residential burglaries, according to the University of Maryland Police Department. Tyler Alexander Butler, 18, of Frederick, and Amir Christian Short, 19, of Mount Airy, were identified after investigators received a flood of tips from the campus community, police announced on Tuesday, Sept. 15. The investigation began when officers were called to South Campus Commons to investigate three b…

by Zak Failla

09/15/2026

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