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

Woodbridge, VA
Breaking News
17 Years, Thousands Of Videos: Woodbridge Man Admits Secretly Filming Kids In Bathroom: Feds 17 Years, Thousands Of Videos: Woodbridge Man Admits Secretly Filming Kids In Bathroom: Feds 17 Years, Thousands Of Videos: Woodbridge Man Admits Secretly Filming Kids In Bathroom: Feds
17 Years, Thousands Of Videos: Woodbridge Man Admits Secretly Filming Kids In Bathroom: Feds For nearly two decades, children inside a Virginia home had no idea they were being watched. Jackson Quentin Crocker, 54, of Woodbridge, admitted in federal court on Thursday, Aug. 27, that he secretly recorded minors inside his bathroom for years, ultimately creating thousands of videos, according to federal prosecutors. Crocker, a former employee of the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of children and possession of child sexual abuse material. The hidden recordings dated back to at least March 2008. According to court…

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by Zak Failla
Silver Spring, MD
Obituaries
'Gentle Giant': Beloved MCPS Bus Driver Remembered After Heart Attack On Final Route 'Gentle Giant': Beloved MCPS Bus Driver Remembered After Heart Attack On Final Route 'Gentle Giant': Beloved MCPS Bus Driver Remembered After Heart Attack On Final Route
'Gentle Giant': Beloved Mcps Bus Driver Remembered After Heart Attack On Final Route Tuesday morning, Rodney Givens was right where generations of Maryland schoolchildren had come to expect him. Behind the wheel. Hours later, the longtime Montgomery County Public Schools bus driver, husband, father and union leader was gone after suffering what his family says was a heart attack while driving his bus on Tuesday, Aug. 25. Givens was driving MCPS Route 4105 when the medical emergency struck shortly after 3 p.m., according to his family and police. The bus crashed into a utility pole near Central Avenue and Route 355. There were no students aboard, and nobody else was in…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Your Community
Virginia's Justus Kelley Makes History As First Mother To Win Miss USA Virginia's Justus Kelley Makes History As First Mother To Win Miss USA Virginia's Justus Kelley Makes History As First Mother To Win Miss USA
Virginia's Justus Kelley Makes History As First Mother To Win Miss USA Virginia waited more than half a century for another Miss USA. The wait ended in historic fashion on Thursday, Aug. 27, when Miss Virginia USA Justus Kelley was crowned Miss USA 2026 during the 75th edition of the pageant in Miami. Kelley, 31, became the first mother and first married woman to win the Miss USA title, according to People and Business Insider. She is also reportedly the first woman in her 30s to win. And she ended quite the drought back home. Kelley became the first woman representing Virginia to win Miss USA since Deborah Shelton took the crown in 1970, according to B…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
DOJ Says George Washington University Medical School Discriminated By Race In Admissions DOJ Says George Washington University Medical School Discriminated By Race In Admissions DOJ Says George Washington University Medical School Discriminated By Race In Admissions
DOJ Says George Washington University Medical School Discriminated By Race In Admissions George Washington University is facing a serious accusation from the Justice Department. Federal civil rights investigators announced on Thursday, Aug. 27, that they found the DC-based university's School of Medicine and Health Sciences intentionally discriminated based on race when deciding who would get into its 2024 and 2025 incoming classes. According to the Justice Department, the medical school's admissions practices violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and ran afoul of the US Supreme Court's 2023 ruling barring race-based admissions in higher education. Investigators sa…

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by Zak Failla
College Park, MD
Breaking News
Crash Shuts Down I-295 In Both Directions Near Capital Beltway In Prince George's County Crash Shuts Down I-295 In Both Directions Near Capital Beltway In Prince George's County Crash Shuts Down I-295 In Both Directions Near Capital Beltway In Prince George's County
Crash Shuts Down I-295 In Both Directions Near Capital Beltway In Prince George's County Friday morning traffic came to a standstill on a major Maryland highway. A crash on I-295 just north of the Capital Beltway in Prince George's County forced authorities to close travel lanes in both directions shortly before 9 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 28, according to the Maryland Department of Transportation. The collision was reported at approximately 8:55 a.m. and involved one vehicle, according to the initial alert. But the response was anything but minor. All three northbound travel lanes and both shoulders were listed as closed as first responders worked at the scene. Maryland DOT On…

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by Zak Failla
La Plata, MD
Breaking News
32 Residents Evacuated As Flames Tear Through La Plata Nursing Home (PHOTOS) 32 Residents Evacuated As Flames Tear Through La Plata Nursing Home (PHOTOS) 32 Residents Evacuated As Flames Tear Through La Plata Nursing Home (PHOTOS)
32 Residents Evacuated As Flames Tear Through La Plata Nursing Home (Photos) Dozens of nursing home residents had an abrupt start to their Friday when a fire broke out before sunrise in Maryland. Firefighters were called to Green Acres Nursing and Rehab at 10200 La Plata Road in Charles County at approximately 4:11 a.m. on Aug. 28, where crews arrived to find flames showing from the rear of the building and a fire burning in the attic. As firefighters attacked the blaze, 32 residents were moved to another wing of the facility, according to the La Plata Volunteer Fire Department. The fire at the Green Acres Nursing facility in La Plata. La Plata Volunteer Fire…

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by Zak Failla
Annapolis, MD
Breaking News
Husband Dies One Week After Propane-Fueled Annapolis Home Explosion Killed His Wife Husband Dies One Week After Propane-Fueled Annapolis Home Explosion Killed His Wife Husband Dies One Week After Propane-Fueled Annapolis Home Explosion Killed His Wife
Husband Dies One Week After Propane-Fueled Annapolis Home Explosion Killed His Wife A devastating Maryland home explosion has now claimed both husband and wife. Stanley Synowczynski, 75, died Thursday night, Aug. 27, from injuries suffered in the Aug. 20 explosion at his Green Holly Drive home in Annapolis, the Anne Arundel County Fire Department announced Friday. His wife, Linda Synowczynski, died the day of the explosion. Stanley was critically injured in the blast and hospitalized. His death marks the second fatality from the explosion, fire officials said. Investigators previously determined that Stanley accidentally cut a propane line while working on the home's HVA…

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by Zak Failla
Reston, VA
Breaking News
Visited These 4 Reston Businesses? You May Have Been Exposed To Measles Visited These 4 Reston Businesses? You May Have Been Exposed To Measles Visited These 4 Reston Businesses? You May Have Been Exposed To Measles
Visited These 4 Reston Businesses? You May Have Been Exposed To Measles Measles is back on Virginia's radar. State health officials issued a warning on Thursday, Aug. 27, after learning that a person with a confirmed case traveled through Reston while infectious on Sunday, Aug. 16, potentially exposing people at four businesses. The infected person lives outside Virginia, according to the Department of Health, which is working to identify and notify anyone who may have been exposed. The potential exposure sites are: Sheraton Reston Hotel, 11810 Sunrise Valley Drive, on Sunday, Aug. 16; MOTW Coffee and Pastries, 11830 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite 200, on Sunda…

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by Zak Failla
Glen Burnie, MD
Breaking News
Taco Bell Chaos: Carjacker Runs Down 2 During Wild Glen Burnie Getaway, Police Say Taco Bell Chaos: Carjacker Runs Down 2 During Wild Glen Burnie Getaway, Police Say Taco Bell Chaos: Carjacker Runs Down 2 During Wild Glen Burnie Getaway, Police Say
Taco Bell Chaos: Carjacker Runs Down 2 During Wild Glen Burnie Getaway, Police Say A Taco Bell run went completely off the rails in Maryland when an erratic man allegedly dragged a driver from his car and ran down two people during his getaway. The chaos unfolded at around 11:10 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 26, at the Taco Bell in the 6600 block of Ritchie Highway in Glen Burnie, according to the Anne Arundel County Police Department. Police said the suspect and his ex-girlfriend had gotten a ride to the restaurant when he began acting erratically. Then things escalated. The man got out of the vehicle and approached a 2009 Toyota Corolla sitting in the Taco Bell drive-thru l…

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by Zak Failla
College Park, MD
Breaking News
Maryland Man Forced Women To Have Sex With Up To 10 Men A Day Across 6 States: Feds Maryland Man Forced Women To Have Sex With Up To 10 Men A Day Across 6 States: Feds Maryland Man Forced Women To Have Sex With Up To 10 Men A Day Across 6 States: Feds
Maryland Man Forced Women To Have Sex With Up To 10 Men A Day Across 6 States: Feds A Maryland man who forced women into prostitution across several East Coast states is facing life in prison. Brandon Sartor, 33, a Prince George's County native, pleaded guilty on Thursday, Aug. 27 to two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, according to the Department of Justice. Between December 2024 and April 2025, prosecutors say that Sartor used physical violence, threats, sexual assault, and the withholding of drugs to compel two women to engage in repeated commercial sex acts in Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. His …

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by Zak Failla
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