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

Edgewood, MD
Breaking News
Dead Dogs Found In Covered Crate Along Edgewood Path As Investigators Seek Answers Dead Dogs Found In Covered Crate Along Edgewood Path As Investigators Seek Answers Dead Dogs Found In Covered Crate Along Edgewood Path As Investigators Seek Answers
Dead Dogs Found In Covered Crate Along Edgewood Path As Investigators Seek Answers Something wasn't right about the covered crate sitting along a Maryland walking path. What authorities found inside was worse. Two dogs were found dead on Saturday, Aug. 22, near Harford Square Drive and J Court in Edgewood, prompting an investigation by Harford County Animal Control, according to the sheriff's office. Both animals were inside the same medium-sized metal crate, hidden beneath a sheer brown sheet and textured yellow plastic. Now investigators are hoping somebody recognizes them. One was a small male terrier-type dog with brindle coloring, officials said. The other was a …

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
$125K 'Slush Fund': DC Sues Nonprofit Founder Over Money Meant For Addiction Treatment, AG Says $125K 'Slush Fund': DC Sues Nonprofit Founder Over Money Meant For Addiction Treatment, AG Says $125K 'Slush Fund': DC Sues Nonprofit Founder Over Money Meant For Addiction Treatment, AG Says
$125K 'Slush Fund': DC Sues Nonprofit Founder Over Money Meant For Addiction Treatment, AG Says The money was supposed to help some of DC's most vulnerable residents. Instead, Maryland resident Allyson Abrams allegedly siphoned more than $125,000 from two nonprofits she founded, moving money meant for addiction treatment and other community services to herself, her spouse, and businesses tied to her real estate work, according to a lawsuit announced Monday, Aug. 31, by DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb. Then came a deal to make some of it right. Abrams agreed in December to repay the District $110,000 over 11 months and surrender control of the nonprofits' money. Eight payments late…

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by Zak Failla
Upper Marlboro, MD
Breaking News
District Heights. Father Supplied Son With Fentanyl Before $1.7M Maryland Drug Bust, Feds Say District Heights. Father Supplied Son With Fentanyl Before $1.7M Maryland Drug Bust, Feds Say District Heights. Father Supplied Son With Fentanyl Before $1.7M Maryland Drug Bust, Feds Say
District Heights. Father Supplied Son With Fentanyl Before $1.7M Maryland Drug Bust, Feds Say Like father, like son, federal prosecutors say. A Maryland father and son are facing federal charges after a months-long fentanyl investigation culminated on Thursday, Aug. 27, with searches that allegedly turned up approximately $1.7 million worth of drugs, according to the US Attorney's Office. Rashad Deondre Hicks, 36, of Largo, and his father, Lawrence Alonzo Hicks, 62, of District Heights, were arrested following an investigation that prosecutors say began in January. Investigators initially set their sights on the younger Hicks, who authorities believed was moving large quantities of…

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by Zak Failla
Brandywine, MD
Obituaries
'Forever In Our Hearts': Family Mourns 'Lex' After Fatal Maryland Police Pursuit Crash 'Forever In Our Hearts': Family Mourns 'Lex' After Fatal Maryland Police Pursuit Crash 'Forever In Our Hearts': Family Mourns 'Lex' After Fatal Maryland Police Pursuit Crash
'Forever In Our Hearts': Family Mourns 'Lex' After Fatal Maryland Police Pursuit Crash Alexis Cummings' family is preparing to say goodbye. Days after a police pursuit ended in a violent Maryland crash that left the 33-year-old fighting for her life, relatives have launched a fundraiser to help give “Lex” a proper Celebration of Life. Cummings, a Temple Hills native, was identified on Monday, Aug. 31, as the woman who died following the Aug. 25 crash on Route 301 in Brandywine. Her death was confirmed as the Maryland Attorney General's Independent Investigations Division also released the names of the two Charles County Sheriff's Office officers involved in the pursuit. For…

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by Zak Failla
Fredericksburg, VA
Breaking News
Passed Out Behind Wheel: Maryland Man's Fredericksburg Nap Leads To Cocaine, Fentanyl Bust Passed Out Behind Wheel: Maryland Man's Fredericksburg Nap Leads To Cocaine, Fentanyl Bust Passed Out Behind Wheel: Maryland Man's Fredericksburg Nap Leads To Cocaine, Fentanyl Bust
Passed Out Behind Wheel: Maryland Man's Fredericksburg Nap Leads To Cocaine, Fentanyl Bust Michael Bohnes had a long weekend. The Maryland resident found himself unconscious across state lines in Virginia, passed out behind the wheel of a running vehicle, according to the Fredericksburg Police Department. On Friday night, Aug. 28, officers were called to investigate a man who was asleep behind the wheel of a running vehicle. Investigators say officers noticed signs of impairment and possible drug use, and further investigation led to a much larger bust. During the search, detectives found "large quantities of cocaine, fentanyl, and cash." The 31-year-old man from White Pl…

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by Zak Failla
Lexington Park, MD
Breaking News
Girl, 5, Killed Hours After Dad Allegedly Opened Fire In Separate Maryland Shooting: Police Girl, 5, Killed Hours After Dad Allegedly Opened Fire In Separate Maryland Shooting: Police Girl, 5, Killed Hours After Dad Allegedly Opened Fire In Separate Maryland Shooting: Police
Girl, 5, Killed Hours After Dad Allegedly Opened Fire In Separate Maryland Shooting: Police Na'Ryah Adams was supposed to be getting ready for kindergarten. Instead, the 5-year-old was killed in a burst of gunfire at her Maryland home earlier this month, and investigators now say her death was connected to another shooting involving her own family just hours earlier. Five people have since been charged across the two Dorchester County cases, including Na'Ryah's father, her teenage cousin, two men accused of her murder, and a woman police say helped one of them evade investigators. The chain of violence began on Gold Rush Lane in Hurlock, according to Maryland State Police. Inves…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
Firefighter Suffers Medical Emergency As Two-Alarm Blaze Tears Through Baltimore County Home Firefighter Suffers Medical Emergency As Two-Alarm Blaze Tears Through Baltimore County Home Firefighter Suffers Medical Emergency As Two-Alarm Blaze Tears Through Baltimore County Home
Firefighter Suffers Medical Emergency As Two-Alarm Blaze Tears Through Baltimore County Home One of the firefighters battling the blaze wound up needing help, too. A firefighter suffered a medical emergency while crews battled a two-alarm house fire in Maryland for nearly three hours on Monday morning, according to officials. Baltimore County firefighters were initially called shortly after 11:15 a.m. to the 12000 block of Long Green Pike in Glen Arm on Aug. 31, where they found heavy smoke and fire on the second floor and in the attic. The flames prompted a second alarm as more crews were brought in to help contain the fire. Photos released by the department show smoke pouring f…

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by Zak Failla
Lorton, VA
Breaking News
40 Feet Down, One Way Up: Crane Hoists Worker To Safety At Lorton Construction Site (PHOTOS) 40 Feet Down, One Way Up: Crane Hoists Worker To Safety At Lorton Construction Site (PHOTOS) 40 Feet Down, One Way Up: Crane Hoists Worker To Safety At Lorton Construction Site (PHOTOS)
40 Feet Down, One Way Up: Crane Hoists Worker To Safety At Lorton Construction Site (Photos) Getting him out was going to take more than a ladder. A construction worker left suspended approximately 40 feet below ground in Virginia was hauled back to safety by crane during a dramatic technical rescue on Monday afternoon, Aug. 31, officials said. Fairfax County Fire and Rescue crews were called at approximately 1:46 p.m. to the construction site near Richmond Highway and Armistead Road in Lorton, where the worker had become suspended during construction operations. With the worker stranded well below ground, multiple technical rescue units were brought in and crews began planning ho…

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by Zak Failla
Stafford, VA
Breaking News
'Burn The Town': Screaming Suspect Makes Fiery Threat During Stafford Arrest, Sheriff Says 'Burn The Town': Screaming Suspect Makes Fiery Threat During Stafford Arrest, Sheriff Says 'Burn The Town': Screaming Suspect Makes Fiery Threat During Stafford Arrest, Sheriff Says
'Burn The Town': Screaming Suspect Makes Fiery Threat During Stafford Arrest, Sheriff Says Eddie Kolota Jr. apparently wasn't going quietly. The 65-year-old Virginia man was already wanted when deputies found him screaming obscenities in the middle of a Stafford street on Saturday, Aug. 29, according to the sheriff's office. Then, as they were putting him in a patrol vehicle, investigators say Kolota took his outburst a step further. He threatened to "burn the town." Deputies were initially called to Draper Circle at around 5:41 p.m. for reports of a man standing in the roadway screaming. Kolota was still yelling when they arrived, officials said, and a check of his name revea…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Your Community
Birthday Dream Turns To Nightmare For DC-Area Chef Struck By Truck In Jamaica Birthday Dream Turns To Nightmare For DC-Area Chef Struck By Truck In Jamaica Birthday Dream Turns To Nightmare For DC-Area Chef Struck By Truck In Jamaica
Birthday Dream Turns To Nightmare For Dc-area Chef Struck By Truck In Jamaica Five days ago, Chef Jason Briscoe was doing what he does best. The DC-area chef was behind a kitchen counter showing his followers how to make Jamaican curry chicken, carefully seasoning it while walking viewers through another recipe for the online community he built around food and Jamaican culture. Now, Briscoe is hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after being struck by a truck while riding a bicycle during what was a planned celebration in Jamaica. "This was supposed to be a birthday trip," Briscoe's Kitchen & Spice wrote while sharing photos of him in the hospital. "Th…

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by Zak Failla
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