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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

Police & Fire
Maryland Driver Facing Homicide Charge After Veering Into Bike Lane, Fleeing: State Police Maryland Driver Facing Homicide Charge After Veering Into Bike Lane, Fleeing: State Police
Maryland Driver Facing Homicide Charge After Veering Into Bike Lane, Fleeing: State Police A 52-year-old man is dead, and a Maryland woman is in custody after an alleged hit-and-run crash in Delaware that claimed the life of Duane Pershing. Ocean City resident Kara Gilmore, 46, is facing upgraded charges following a crash in Millville that killed Ocean View, Delaware resident Duane Pershing, according to state police. Shortly after 9 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9, Pershing was traveling westbound in a bike lane on Atlantic Avenue East near Whites Neck Road when Gilmore's Subaru Forester left its lane and struck him. After striking Pershing,  it is alleged that Gilmore fled the ar…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Three Tried To Run. One Ended Up Hiding In A Bathroom. Fredericksburg Police Got Them All Three Tried To Run. One Ended Up Hiding In A Bathroom. Fredericksburg Police Got Them All
Three Tried To Run. One Ended Up Hiding In A Bathroom. Fredericksburg Police Got Them All One tried hiding in a bathroom. One tried fleeing on foot. One tried to get away in a vehicle. Police in Virginia nabbed all three of them. On Wednesday, June 10, officers from the Fredericksburg Police Department attempted a stop in the 300 block of Emancipation Highway after spotting the driver committing traffic violations. Before the stop could be completed, the situation unraveled. Police said Zoe Howell, 26, of Spotsylvania, bolted from the vehicle on foot while officers were speaking with driver Sharice Bradford, 29, of Fairfax.  As an officer chased Howell, passenger Teddy C…

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by Zak Failla
News
Rescued Twice: Virginia Yorkie Dug From Groundhog Tunnel After Underground Ordeal (PHOTOS) Rescued Twice: Virginia Yorkie Dug From Groundhog Tunnel After Underground Ordeal (PHOTOS)
Rescued Twice: Virginia Yorkie Dug From Groundhog Tunnel After Underground Ordeal (Photos) A tiny Virginia dog found himself in a hole lot of trouble. Halo, a 12-year-old Yorkshire terrier, sparked a rescue effort in Fauquier County after somehow becoming trapped deep inside a groundhog tunnel, prompting a frantic call for help and an unusual digging operation in Warrenton. According to the SPCA, Fauquier County Sheriff's Office Animal Control was alerted when Halo's owners realized the little Yorkie had disappeared underground and couldn't get out on his own. What followed looked less like a routine animal call and more like a backyard excavation project. Halo Fauquier…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
12-Year-Old Shot In Chest While Kids Handled Gun Alone Inside Spotsylvania Home: Sheriff 12-Year-Old Shot In Chest While Kids Handled Gun Alone Inside Spotsylvania Home: Sheriff
12-Year-Old Shot In Chest While Kids Handled Gun Alone Inside Spotsylvania Home: Sheriff A 12-year-old boy is lucky to be alive after a gun went off inside a Virginia home while a group of children was handling it with no adults around, authorities said. Deputies rushed to the 100 block of Lee Street on Monday, June 9, after reports of a shooting inside a residence, according to the Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office. When they arrived, they found the boy suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper body. The scene could have ended much differently. Deputies immediately began lifesaving measures as Spotsylvania Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Management crews raced to the home. A traff…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Maryland AG Clears Detectives After Armed Suspect Pulled Gun During Foot Chase In Baltimore Maryland AG Clears Detectives After Armed Suspect Pulled Gun During Foot Chase In Baltimore
Maryland AG Clears Detectives After Armed Suspect Pulled Gun During Foot Chase In Baltimore A Maryland investigation into the fatal police shooting of a Baltimore man who fled a store, ignored commands, and pulled a handgun during a foot chase has ended with no charges against the detectives involved. Attorney General Anthony Brown announced Thursday, June 11, that his office will not prosecute the two Baltimore Police detectives who shot and killed 37-year-old Dwight Hawkins outside a Belair Road convenience store in February. The shooting happened shortly after 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24, when members of the Baltimore Police Department's Group Violence Unit entered a store in…

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by Zak Failla
Politics
Feds Seek Custody Of Herndon Suspect Accused In Knifepoint Abduction, Carjacking: ICE Feds Seek Custody Of Herndon Suspect Accused In Knifepoint Abduction, Carjacking: ICE
Feds Seek Custody Of Herndon Suspect Accused In Knifepoint Abduction, Carjacking: ICE The man at the center of a multi-state manhunt that began with a violent domestic dispute in Virginia is now the subject of an ICE detainer, federal officials announced. Cristian Wilfredo Alvarenga Aguilar, 25, was arrested Tuesday after police spent hours searching for him across Virginia and Maryland following what investigators described as a crime spree that included an alleged knifepoint abduction and carjacking. Now, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is seeking custody if Aguilar is released from a local jail. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the case began on J…

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by Zak Failla
Business
Baltimore Restaurant Oleum Named Among Nation's Best Vegan Steaks Ahead Of Father's Day Baltimore Restaurant Oleum Named Among Nation's Best Vegan Steaks Ahead Of Father's Day
Baltimore Restaurant Oleum Named Among Nation's Best Vegan Steaks Ahead Of Father's Day A Maryland restaurant just earned some serious national bragging rights ahead of Father's Day. Oleum, the Baltimore vegan dining destination in the 700 block of S. Bond Street in Fells Point, has been named one of the winners of PETA's inaugural "A Cut Above" awards recognizing the best vegan steaks in the country, the animal rights organization announced this week. The award centers on Oleum's Seared Steak + Fingerling Potatoes, a plant-based steak made locally and served with black garlic compound butter, sautéed green beans, and roasted fingerling potatoes finished with truffle salt. Th…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
'He Shouldn't Be Here': Maryland Dad Burned In Plant Explosion Texted Wife Minutes Before Blast 'He Shouldn't Be Here': Maryland Dad Burned In Plant Explosion Texted Wife Minutes Before Blast
'He Shouldn't Be Here': Maryland Dad Burned In Plant Explosion Texted Wife Minutes Before Blast Five minutes. That's all the time that passed between Bruce Boykin Jr.'s last text message to his wife and the explosion that nearly took his life. Now, the Maryland father of three is recovering in a Johns Hopkins burn unit after suffering significant injuries in the blast that rocked Baltimore's Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plant earlier this week. "He shouldn't be here, but he is," his wife, Traci Boykin, wrote in an emotional update shared days after the explosion. "I can't explain how that feels knowing that we could've lost him, that within 5 minutes of his last text to me, a nightm…

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by Zak Failla
Politics
'Slanderous': Wes Moore Fires Back At Critics Questioning Military Record In CNN Interview 'Slanderous': Wes Moore Fires Back At Critics Questioning Military Record In CNN Interview
'Slanderous': Wes Moore Fires Back At Critics Questioning Military Record In CNN Interview Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is pushing back hard against renewed scrutiny of his military service, calling allegations that he embellished his record for political gain "slanderous," "deeply disrespectful," and "deeply un-American." Moore made the comments during a tense interview on CNN News Central on Thursday, June 11, when anchor Kate Bolduan pressed him on recent reporting examining statements he has made over the years about his Army service and deployment to Afghanistan. The Democratic governor, who served with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and deployed to Afghanistan in 2005, reject…

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by Zak Failla
Traffic
Major Roads Closing Across DC Area For Capital Pride Weekend: What Drivers Need To Know Major Roads Closing Across DC Area For Capital Pride Weekend: What Drivers Need To Know
Major Roads Closing Across DC Area For Capital Pride Weekend: What Drivers Need To Know If it feels like downtown DC can't catch a break this month, get ready for another round of road closures. Thousands of people are expected to pour into the District for Capital Pride weekend on Saturday, June 20, and Sunday, June 21, triggering widespread street shutdowns, parking restrictions, and traffic headaches across some of the city's busiest corridors. The closures come as Washington is already bracing for a packed summer calendar of major events, security operations, and celebrations that have repeatedly disrupted travel around the city. The biggest impacts will hit Northwest Was…

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by Zak Failla
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