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

North Potomac, MD
Breaking News
Students Taken Into Custody After Knife, BB Gun Found At Magruder High School: Police Students Taken Into Custody After Knife, BB Gun Found At Magruder High School: Police
Students Taken Into Custody After Knife, BB Gun Found At Magruder High School: Police It was an unsettling start to the school day. Two students were taken into custody following separate weapons incidents at a Maryland high school on Thursday morning, Sept. 3, temporarily disrupting classes before one 15-year-old was charged, police said. The incidents unfolded at Magruder High School in Rockville, where Montgomery County Public Schools placed the building in a hold status as officers investigated. Shortly after 9:20 a.m., Montgomery County Police announced that two students were in custody following two separate incidents and that weapons had been recovered. More details…

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by Zak Failla
Bowie, MD
On Your Side
Bowie Insurance Agent Used Hispanic Names In Scam Because He Thought They Were Undocumented: AG Bowie Insurance Agent Used Hispanic Names In Scam Because He Thought They Were Undocumented: AG
Bowie Insurance Agent Used Hispanic Names In Scam Because He Thought They Were Undocumented: AG The logic behind the scam was as cynical as it was calculated. A former Prince George's County insurance agent has pleaded guilty in Maryland after admitting he submitted fake life insurance applications using Hispanic surnames because he believed they would draw less scrutiny, according to the Attorney General's Office. Corrie Dewayne Alston, 51, of Bowie, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, Sept. 2, to felony theft scheme and felony insurance fraud in Prince George's County Circuit Court. The plea comes months after investigators first revealed the reasoning they say Alston gave for choosing th…

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by Zak Failla
Stafford, VA
Breaking News
Good Samaritan Vanishes After Pulling Driver From Burning Vehicle In Deadly Stafford Crash Good Samaritan Vanishes After Pulling Driver From Burning Vehicle In Deadly Stafford Crash
Good Samaritan Vanishes After Pulling Driver From Burning Vehicle In Deadly Stafford Crash Investigators are searching for a Good Samaritan who pulled a driver from a burning vehicle after a crash on a busy Virginia highway. First responders were called around 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 2, to a vehicle fire on Richmond Highway near Twin Brook Lane when a vehicle went off the road and caught fire. A passenger in the vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene. The southbound lanes of Richmond Highway were shut down for an extended period of time to allow Stafford County Fire and Rescue to administer first aid and put out the fire. Richmond Highway near Twin Brook Lane …

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by Zak Failla
Indian Head-Nanjemoy, MD
Breaking News
Driver Killed, Passenger Ejected In Three-Vehicle Indian Head Highway Crash In PG County Driver Killed, Passenger Ejected In Three-Vehicle Indian Head Highway Crash In PG County
Driver Killed, Passenger Ejected In Three-Vehicle Indian Head Highway Crash In PG County One person was killed, and another was ejected from a vehicle in a late-night crash in Maryland. The three-vehicle collision was reported shortly before 9:40 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 2, on northbound Indian Head Highway near Palmer Road in Prince George's County. First responders arrived to find one person trapped inside a vehicle and another who had been ejected, according to the Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department. The trapped driver was pronounced dead at the scene. The passenger who was ejected was taken to an area hospital in critical condition. Prince George's County Pol…

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by Zak Failla
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 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 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 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 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 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 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
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