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

Ellicott City, MD
Breaking News
Howard County Police ID 1971 Jane Doe, Reunite Her Children Decades Later Howard County Police ID 1971 Jane Doe, Reunite Her Children Decades Later Howard County Police ID 1971 Jane Doe, Reunite Her Children Decades Later
Howard County Police ID 1971 Jane Doe, Reunite Her Children Decades Later For more than half a century, she was known only as “Jane Doe.” Her beaten body was found in a Howard County field in 1971, She died days later, was never identified, and her name was lost to time.  For 54 years, the case gathered dust — the police department's oldest cold case homicide. Now police say they finally know who she was. Authorities announced Wednesday, Sept. 4, that DNA profiling has revealed the victim as Sadie Belle Murray, born in 1924 in Pennsylvania, who at the time of her death went by Sarah Belle Sharkey. And in a stunning twist, detectives also tracked down her …

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by Zak Failla
St. Leonard-Port Republic, MD
Breaking News
Gun, Cocaine, Cash Seized After 90 MPH Chase, Standoff In St. Leonard: Sheriff Gun, Cocaine, Cash Seized After 90 MPH Chase, Standoff In St. Leonard: Sheriff Gun, Cocaine, Cash Seized After 90 MPH Chase, Standoff In St. Leonard: Sheriff
Gun, Cocaine, Cash Seized After 90 MPH Chase, Standoff In St. Leonard: Sheriff A drug-addled man who held a woman against her will before taking police on a wild chase in Maryland is behind bars, officials say. Raymond Travis Entsminger, 52, of St. Leonard, put members of the Calvert County Sheriff's Office through their paces as they sought to investigate a reported domestic disturbance late last month.  Deputies were called on Aug. 19 to a St. Leonard residence, where it was determined that Entsminger assaulted a woman and then held her against her will. According to the sheriff's office, investigators also learned that Entsminger was allegedly under…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Your Community
DC AG Sues Trump To End Guard Deployment: ‘Armed Soldiers Should Not Be Policing Americans’ DC AG Sues Trump To End Guard Deployment: ‘Armed Soldiers Should Not Be Policing Americans’ DC AG Sues Trump To End Guard Deployment: ‘Armed Soldiers Should Not Be Policing Americans’
DC AG Sues Trump To End Guard Deployment: ‘Armed Soldiers Should Not Be Policing Americans’ Attorney General Brian Schwalb is suing to block what he calls an “unlawful military occupation” of Washington, DC, accusing President Donald Trump of illegally deploying thousands of National Guard troops to patrol the streets of the nation’s capital. The lawsuit, filed Thursday, Sept. 4, comes as 2,300 Guardsmen remain stationed across DC in armored vehicles, carrying weapons and wearing military gear — despite the city never requesting their presence, the AG said. “Armed soldiers should not be policing American citizens on American soil,” Schwalb said in announcing the legal action. “The…

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by Zak Failla
Pikesville, MD
On Your Side
$1M Powerball Ticket Sold At Pikesville Gas Station As Jackpot Skyrockets To $1.7B $1M Powerball Ticket Sold At Pikesville Gas Station As Jackpot Skyrockets To $1.7B $1M Powerball Ticket Sold At Pikesville Gas Station As Jackpot Skyrockets To $1.7B
$1M Powerball Ticket Sold At Pikesville Gas Station As Jackpot Skyrockets To $1.7B Maryland has a brand-new millionaire after Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing — and four more players are each waking up $50,000 richer — as the record-smashing jackpot keeps climbing. Lottery officials said a $1 million second-tier ticket was sold at Slade BP Gas Station, in the 500 block of Reisterstown Road in Pikesville, for the Sept. 3 drawing.  The lucky player matched all five white balls but missed the Powerball. The retailer also wins big, collecting a $2,500 bonus. According to Lottery officials, the drawing also produced four third-tier $50,000 winners that were sold at: …

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by Zak Failla
Sterling, VA
Breaking News
Unattended Candle Ignites $350K Blaze That Tore Through Sterling Home: Fire Marshal Unattended Candle Ignites $350K Blaze That Tore Through Sterling Home: Fire Marshal Unattended Candle Ignites $350K Blaze That Tore Through Sterling Home: Fire Marshal
Unattended Candle Ignites $350K Blaze That Tore Through Sterling Home: Fire Marshal An unattended candle sparked a fire that tore through a Sterling home Tuesday night, displacing a family of four and causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage, officials said. Loudoun County Fire and Rescue said units from Sterling Park, Cascades, and Kincora, along with crews from Fairfax County, were dispatched just after 9 p.m. on Sept. 2 to the 100 block of N. Sequoia Court for reports of a house fire. Firefighters arrived to find heavy fire shooting from the rear of the home and immediately called for a Rapid Intervention Taskforce, officials said. All four occupants had evacu…

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by Zak Failla
Stafford, VA
Breaking News
Duo Swapped Seats During Wild I-95 Pursuit Before Bust In Stafford, Sheriff Says Duo Swapped Seats During Wild I-95 Pursuit Before Bust In Stafford, Sheriff Says Duo Swapped Seats During Wild I-95 Pursuit Before Bust In Stafford, Sheriff Says
Duo Swapped Seats During Wild I-95 Pursuit Before Bust In Stafford, Sheriff Says Two people are facing a laundry list of charges after deputies say they tried to outsmart law enforcement during a wild I-95 pursuit in Virginia. Courtney Knight, 33, of DC, and Dillon Turner, 27, of Independence, were both arrested after trying to pull a fast one on members of the Stafford County Sheriff's Office during a chase that broke out early on Tuesday. The sheriff's office said the chaos began around 11:15 a.m. on Sept. 2, when a sergeant responded to Richmond Highway and Centreport Parkway for a reckless driver complaint.  According to the sheriff's office, further investiga…

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by Zak Failla
Lexington Park, MD
Breaking News
Maryland Inmate Charged With Murder In Prison Death, State Police Say Maryland Inmate Charged With Murder In Prison Death, State Police Say Maryland Inmate Charged With Murder In Prison Death, State Police Say
Maryland Inmate Charged With Murder In Prison Death, State Police Say A Maryland inmate has been indicted on first-degree murder charges in the death of another prisoner at the Eastern Correctional Institution in Somerset County, state police announced. Tyjuan Chapple, 26, was served with an arrest warrant Wednesday, Sept. 3, and remains in the custody of the Maryland Division of Corrections, according to Maryland State Police. Chapple was indicted by a Somerset County Grand Jury on July 25 after homicide investigators presented the case, police said.  He is charged with first-degree murder and related offenses. The charges stem from the March 29 death…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
Plane That Took Off From BWI Skids Off Runway At Chicago Airport (DEVELOPING) Plane That Took Off From BWI Skids Off Runway At Chicago Airport (DEVELOPING) Plane That Took Off From BWI Skids Off Runway At Chicago Airport (DEVELOPING)
Plane That Took Off From BWI Skids Off Runway At Chicago Airport (Developing) A private jet that took off from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport skidded off the end of the runway while landing at Chicago Executive Airport on Wednesday, the FAA confirmed. The Gulfstream G150 had two people on board when it landed in Chicago, though the pilot overran the runway on the rainy afternoon. Once on the ground, the plane continued past the runway and through a fence. A Gulfstream G150 crashes through a fence after overrunning the runway while landing at Chicago Executive Airport.Emergency crews, including the Wheeling Fire Department, responded …

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by Zak Failla
Lanham-Seabrook, MD
Breaking News
Body Found Off Route 50 May Be Linked To Missing Lanham Teen: PGPD Body Found Off Route 50 May Be Linked To Missing Lanham Teen: PGPD Body Found Off Route 50 May Be Linked To Missing Lanham Teen: PGPD
Body Found Off Route 50 May Be Linked To Missing Lanham Teen: Pgpd The Prince George’s County Police Department says a missing 19-year-old woman from Lanham may be connected to a body discovered off Route 50 in Anne Arundel County. Dacara Thompson, 19, was reported missing by her family on Aug. 23. Since then, PGPD’s Missing Persons Unit and multiple investigative teams have been working the case, Interim Chief George Nader said Wednesday, Sept. 3. “Anytime a member of our community goes missing, we take it seriously,” Nader said. “We know behind every missing person report is a worried family desperate for answers. Our dedicated detectives of the Missing…

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by Zak Failla
Potomac, MD
Breaking News
Suspects Hundreds Of Miles From Home Linked To Violent Armed CVS Robbery In Potomac: Police Suspects Hundreds Of Miles From Home Linked To Violent Armed CVS Robbery In Potomac: Police Suspects Hundreds Of Miles From Home Linked To Violent Armed CVS Robbery In Potomac: Police
Suspects Hundreds Of Miles From Home Linked To Violent Armed CVS Robbery In Potomac: Police Two out-of-state men are accused of driving hundreds of miles from their hometowns to Maryland, where they held up a CVS location during a violent robbery, police say. Shakir Dequan Jude, 31, of Cary, North Carolina, and Justin Thomas Whitaker, 32, of Brooklyn, are both facing charges in connection with a May armed robbery in Potomac, the Montgomery County Department of Police announced on Wednesday, Sept. 3.  At around 3:20 a.m. on Sunday, May 25, the masked duo entered the CVS in the 7900 block of Tuckerman Lane wearing gloves and armed with handguns.  Police said they forced t…

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by Zak Failla
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