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

Arlington, VA
Breaking News
43 Kilos Of Cocaine Led DEA To Ronthony Ward's Maryland Stash House, Prosecutors Say 43 Kilos Of Cocaine Led DEA To Ronthony Ward's Maryland Stash House, Prosecutors Say 43 Kilos Of Cocaine Led DEA To Ronthony Ward's Maryland Stash House, Prosecutors Say
43 Kilos Of Cocaine Led DEA To Ronthony Ward's Maryland Stash House, Prosecutors Say A five-minute meeting helped unravel a massive Maryland drug operation. The DEA investigation that began with the seizure of 43 kilograms of cocaine ultimately led agents to a Fort Washington stash house, where prosecutors say they found fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and loaded guns. Now, Ronthony Ward is facing life in federal prison. Prosecutors say evidence presented at trial showed Ward was a member of a "large-scale drug-trafficking operation" in Prince George's County. In August 2023, while investigating a suspected Baltimore cocaine trafficker, DEA investigators tracked the intended ta…

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by Zak Failla
Lexington Park, MD
Breaking News
Five Charged, But FBI Says Search Isn't Over In 5-Year-Old Maryland Girl's Murder Five Charged, But FBI Says Search Isn't Over In 5-Year-Old Maryland Girl's Murder Five Charged, But FBI Says Search Isn't Over In 5-Year-Old Maryland Girl's Murder
Five Charged, But FBI Says Search Isn't Over In 5-Year-Old Maryland Girl's Murder The arrests haven't closed the book on Na'Ryah Adams' murder. The FBI has now put up $15,000 as investigators continue working to identify everyone involved in the Aug. 11 killing of the 5-year-old at her family's home in Linkwood, bringing the total reward offered in the Maryland case to as much as $25,000. “If you know something about this shooting, share it with us,” FBI Baltimore Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul said while announcing the agency's contribution. The renewed push for information comes after five people were charged across two shootings in Dorchester County that investig…

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by Zak Failla
Germantown, MD
Obituaries
'Forever Our Protector': Family Mourns Maryland Dad Killed In Suspected DUI Crash 'Forever Our Protector': Family Mourns Maryland Dad Killed In Suspected DUI Crash 'Forever Our Protector': Family Mourns Maryland Dad Killed In Suspected DUI Crash
'Forever Our Protector': Family Mourns Maryland Dad Killed In Suspected DUI Crash Chris Grimsley was the guy his family thought would always be there. Instead, the 40-year-old Maryland father was killed early Sunday, Aug. 30, in a Harford County crash that state police say may have involved impairment, leaving his family mourning a loved one they leaned on and a son without his dad. Grimsley was driving a Volkswagen Jetta shortly after 4 a.m. when he entered the intersection of MD Route 147 and MD Route 152 in Fallston, according to Maryland State Police. At the same time, investigators say a Toyota 4Runner driven by 27-year-old Todd Dunaway ran a red light and sla…

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by Zak Failla
Abingdon, MD
Breaking News
Abingdon Man Charged After Ramming 3 Vehicles Before Harford County Deputies Open Fire: Sheriff Abingdon Man Charged After Ramming 3 Vehicles Before Harford County Deputies Open Fire: Sheriff Abingdon Man Charged After Ramming 3 Vehicles Before Harford County Deputies Open Fire: Sheriff
Abingdon Man Charged After Ramming 3 Vehicles Before Harford County Deputies Open Fire: Sheriff The man at the center of a chaotic confrontation with Maryland deputies now has a name and a list of charges. Shemar Mekhi White, 23, of Abingdon, was charged following the Tuesday incident that ended with two Harford County Sheriff's Office deputies opening fire and White running from his vehicle, authorities announced Wednesday. The charges come a day after deputies with the sheriff's office Crime Suppression Unit responded to a community tip and spotted what they believed was drug activity near Abingdon Road. Deputies attempted to stop White's vehicle shortly after 12:20 p.m., but inves…

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by Zak Failla
Sterling, VA
Breaking News
Coast Guard Pilots Make First Single-Engine Landing At DCA With DHS Secretary Aboard Coast Guard Pilots Make First Single-Engine Landing At DCA With DHS Secretary Aboard Coast Guard Pilots Make First Single-Engine Landing At DCA With DHS Secretary Aboard
Coast Guard Pilots Make First Single-Engine Landing At DCA With DHS Secretary Aboard The pilots who safely brought a disabled Coast Guard jet back to the ground in Virginia had never done it before. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the Coast Guard pilots told him after Wednesday, Sept. 2's emergency landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport that it was their first time landing on a single engine. “The United States Coast Guard pilots made the single engine landing feel routine,” Mullin said in a post on X. “No panic, just straight professionalism.” The United States Coast Guard pilots made the single engine landing feel routine. No panic, jus…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
DC Stranger Tried Striking Up Conversation Before Violent Carjacking In Arlington, Police Say DC Stranger Tried Striking Up Conversation Before Violent Carjacking In Arlington, Police Say DC Stranger Tried Striking Up Conversation Before Violent Carjacking In Arlington, Police Say
DC Stranger Tried Striking Up Conversation Before Violent Carjacking In Arlington, Police Say She followed her victim all the way to the car. A 26-year-old District woman is behind bars in Virginia after police say she threatened a woman, stole her keys and took off in her vehicle during a Sunday night carjacking in Arlington. Leah Elaine Johnson approached the woman from behind as she walked through the Colonial Village neighborhood shortly before 5 p.m. on Aug. 31, according to Arlington County Police on Wednesday. At first, Johnson allegedly tried to strike up a conversation. The woman kept walking toward her vehicle. Johnson followed. Then came the threat, police say. Inves…

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by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
Breaking News
Rambo Left A Virginia Shelter Healthy, 2 Months Later He Was Beaten, Broken And Dumped: PETA Rambo Left A Virginia Shelter Healthy, 2 Months Later He Was Beaten, Broken And Dumped: PETA Rambo Left A Virginia Shelter Healthy, 2 Months Later He Was Beaten, Broken And Dumped: PETA
Rambo Left A Virginia Shelter Healthy, 2 Months Later He Was Beaten, Broken And Dumped: PETA Rambo looked like a different dog two months later. The tiny Yorkshire terrier had been healthy and bright-eyed when he was adopted from a Virginia shelter in May.  By the night of Wednesday, July 29, he was found dumped in a Norfolk field with broken bones, traumatic injuries, and so much fear that he panicked when people came near him, according to PETA. Now Rambo is dead, and a reward of up to $10,000 is being offered to find whoever abused him. A witness told PETA that a woman believed to be in her 30s pulled Rambo from a carrier near Armistead Avenue and East 24th Street, left h…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
Police Activity Shuts Down I-695 Outer Loop In Maryland As Traffic Backs Up (DEVELOPING) Police Activity Shuts Down I-695 Outer Loop In Maryland As Traffic Backs Up (DEVELOPING) Police Activity Shuts Down I-695 Outer Loop In Maryland As Traffic Backs Up (DEVELOPING)
Police Activity Shuts Down I-695 Outer Loop In Maryland As Traffic Backs Up (Developing) The Beltway came to a standstill in Maryland on Wednesday afternoon. All three travel lanes of the I-695 Outer Loop were shut down in Baltimore County shortly after 2 p.m. on Sept. 2 due to police activity, according to the Maryland Department of Transportation. The incident was reported shortly before 2:15 p.m. past Exit 11A for I-95, near the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. All three Outer Loop travel lanes were closed, along with both shoulders and the right exit ramp, according to the alert. The Inner Loop remained open. Traffic cameras showed a long line of vehicles backed up behind t…

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by Zak Failla
Taneytown-Union Bridge, MD
Your Community
Dog Kills Aggressive Raccoon That Tests Positive For Rabies In Taneytown, Officials Say Dog Kills Aggressive Raccoon That Tests Positive For Rabies In Taneytown, Officials Say Dog Kills Aggressive Raccoon That Tests Positive For Rabies In Taneytown, Officials Say
Dog Kills Aggressive Raccoon That Tests Positive For Rabies In Taneytown, Officials Say This dog picked a fight with the wrong raccoon. An aggressive raccoon killed by a dog in Maryland later tested positive for rabies, prompting health officials to warn that other pets or people may have encountered the infected animal before its death. Carroll County Animal Control was called to the area near York Street and the Route 140 crossing in Taneytown on the afternoon of Thursday, Aug. 27, after the dog killed the raccoon, according to the county Health Department. Testing later confirmed the raccoon was rabid. Now health officials are trying to determine whether anyone else cross…

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by Zak Failla
Fredericksburg, VA
Breaking News
Oily Rags Spontaneously Combust, Spark Fredericksburg House Fire: Officials Oily Rags Spontaneously Combust, Spark Fredericksburg House Fire: Officials Oily Rags Spontaneously Combust, Spark Fredericksburg House Fire: Officials
Oily Rags Spontaneously Combust, Spark Fredericksburg House Fire: Officials No match. No candle. No electrical spark. A pile of oily rags was enough to ignite a Virginia house fire on Sunday morning, according to fire officials. The flames broke out shortly after 7 a.m. on Aug. 31 at an occupied home in the 1200 block of Stafford Avenue in Fredericksburg, prompting a response from city firefighters and crews from Spotsylvania and Stafford counties. Everyone inside managed to get out on their own before firefighters arrived. No injuries were reported, and a secondary search confirmed nobody remained inside. The fire in Fredericksburg. Fredericksburg Fi…

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by Zak Failla
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