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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

News
Two Found Dead During Maryland Welfare Check With Running Vehicle Found In Garage (DEVELOPING) Two Found Dead During Maryland Welfare Check With Running Vehicle Found In Garage (DEVELOPING)
Two Found Dead During Maryland Welfare Check With Running Vehicle Found In Garage (Developing) What began as a welfare check ended in tragedy. Two adults were found dead inside a Maryland home Saturday afternoon after relatives requested a welfare check, where firefighters discovered dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide and a vehicle running inside the garage. The deaths were reported at a home in the 12700 block of Fernberry Lane in Boyds, where Montgomery County Police officers and Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service personnel responded shortly before 3:20 p.m. When crews entered the home, they found the two occupants unresponsive. Both were pronounced dead at the sce…

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by Zak Failla
Weather
Microburst Forces Mom, 10-Year-Old Daughter To Live Apart After Home Destroyed In Storms Microburst Forces Mom, 10-Year-Old Daughter To Live Apart After Home Destroyed In Storms
Microburst Forces Mom, 10-Year-Old Daughter To Live Apart After Home Destroyed In Storms When the storm passed, Shanita Haynie's family wasn't thinking about replacing a roof. They were wondering what, if anything, was left. A powerful microburst ripped through the Chatham Towne neighborhood in Fairfax on Monday, sending two trees crashing into Haynie's home and leaving it uninhabitable. Now she's staying in a nearby motel while her 10-year-old daughter has moved in with a family friend. The family hasn't been allowed back inside the house.  According to a GoFundMe organized by friend Lydia Graham, they've been told to assume everything left inside was destroyed aft…

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by Zak Failla
News
Virginia Rescue Teams Search Collapsed Buildings After Deadly Venezuela Earthquakes (PHOTOS) Virginia Rescue Teams Search Collapsed Buildings After Deadly Venezuela Earthquakes (PHOTOS)
Virginia Rescue Teams Search Collapsed Buildings After Deadly Venezuela Earthquakes (Photos) As families desperately wait for signs of life beneath mountains of concrete in Venezuela, one of America's most elite rescue teams is already crawling through the rubble. Virginia Task Force 1, based in Fairfax County, is now conducting around-the-clock search-and-rescue operations in Venezuela after a pair of devastating earthquakes leveled buildings and left more than 1,400 people dead, according to international reports. The Fairfax County-sponsored Urban Search and Rescue team deployed as part of the US Department of State's international disaster response, bringing 79 specially tra…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Maryland Man Called 911 On Himself After Deadly MGM Casino Parking Garage Shooting: Police Maryland Man Called 911 On Himself After Deadly MGM Casino Parking Garage Shooting: Police
Maryland Man Called 911 On Himself After Deadly MGM Casino Parking Garage Shooting: Police The house doesn't always win. A Maryland man who shot and killed 33-year-old Alexandria resident Christopher Austin Jr. during an argument at the MGM National Harbor Hotel and Casino called 911 on himself after the deadly encounter, police say. Officers from the Prince George's County Police Department were called around 11:10 p.m. Thursday, June 25, following reports of a crash near Monument Avenue and MGM National Avenue involving a Slingshot autocycle. The investigation yielded unexpected results. Detectives determined both men were waiting in the exit line at the casino parking garage…

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by Zak Failla
News
Maryland Teen Gets Life In Prison For Grisly Murder Of Tropic Bay Gardens Owner Maryland Teen Gets Life In Prison For Grisly Murder Of Tropic Bay Gardens Owner
Maryland Teen Gets Life In Prison For Grisly Murder Of Tropic Bay Gardens Owner One of Maryland's most disturbing murder cases has reached its conclusion. A teenager who admitted killing a beloved garden center owner before stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the victim was sentenced on Friday, June 26, to life in prison with the possibility of parole. In Anne Arundel County, 19-year-old Davidsonville resident Jonah Michael Poole was sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Cathleen Vitale after pleading guilty in March to first-degree murder in the May 2025 killing of 67-year-old Edward Stephen Koza, owner of Tropic Bay Water Gardens. Anne Arundel County Police …

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by Zak Failla
News
Rabid Raccoon Found In Harford County Sparks Alert For Possible Human, Pet Exposure Rabid Raccoon Found In Harford County Sparks Alert For Possible Human, Pet Exposure
Rabid Raccoon Found In Harford County Sparks Alert For Possible Human, Pet Exposure Don't pet that raccoon. Maryland health officials are warning anyone who may have come into contact with a rabid raccoon near Street to come forward after the animal tested positive for the virus. The Harford County Health Department announced on Friday, June 26, that a raccoon found near the 3600 block of Emory Church Road in Street tested positive for rabies, according to confirmation from the Maryland Department of Health. Officials said the raccoon may have exposed people or pets in the surrounding area before it was collected and tested. Simply seeing a raccoon is not cause for conce…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Fake IDs And Stolen Credit Cards Sink Alleged New Yorkers' Virginia Bank Scam, Sheriff Says Fake IDs And Stolen Credit Cards Sink Alleged New Yorkers' Virginia Bank Scam, Sheriff Says
Fake IDs And Stolen Credit Cards Sink Alleged New Yorkers' Virginia Bank Scam, Sheriff Says They brought fake IDs. Detectives say they also brought a plan. Three New Yorkers are accused of traveling to Virginia with forged identification cards and stolen credit cards in an alleged bank fraud scheme that unraveled inside a Stafford County Bank of America, according to the sheriff's office. The arrests came shortly after 3:10 p.m. on Thursday, June 25, when deputies were called to the Bank of America at Stafford Marketplace for a possible fraud attempt. By the time deputies arrived, three suspects had already been detained. Investigators say detectives found forged identification …

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Man Arrested After Maryland Woman Found Slashed To Death In Her Apartment: Police (UPDATED) Man Arrested After Maryland Woman Found Slashed To Death In Her Apartment: Police (UPDATED)
Man Arrested After Maryland Woman Found Slashed To Death In Her Apartment: Police (Updated) Days after a 37-year-old woman was found slashed to death in her Maryland apartment, her boyfriend has been charged with her murder, authorities announced on Friday. Sean Robinson, 39, has been charged in connection with the death of Ashlei Le Shae Jones, 37, who was found dead in their Gaithersburg home during a welfare check on Sunday, June 21, according to the Montgomery County Police Department. Shortly after 8:15 a.m. on Sunday, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service personnel were called to the 8500 block of Snouffer School Road, where they found Jones suffering from "cutting …

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Security Guard Catches Alleged Peeping Tom Looking Into Teen Girl's Window In Virginia: Police Security Guard Catches Alleged Peeping Tom Looking Into Teen Girl's Window In Virginia: Police
Security Guard Catches Alleged Peeping Tom Looking Into Teen Girl's Window In Virginia: Police A suspected Peeping Tom's late-night prowling ended in handcuffs after a security guard allegedly caught him peering into a teenage girl's bedroom window in Virginia, police said. The incident unfolded shortly before 11:20 p.m. on Thursday, June 25, in the 1400 block of Bayside Avenue in Woodbridge, where Prince William County Police responded to a report of a Peeping Tom. According to investigators, a security guard spotted 43-year-old Woodbridge resident Rene Alfredo Musun Melendez looking into the window of a home occupied by a 17-year-old girl. Responding officers detained Musun Melend…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Convicted Felon Pulled Gun At Virginia Elementary School Over Dog Dispute: Police Convicted Felon Pulled Gun At Virginia Elementary School Over Dog Dispute: Police
Convicted Felon Pulled Gun At Virginia Elementary School Over Dog Dispute: Police What started as a dispute over a dog ended with a gun allegedly being pulled outside a Virginia elementary school. The strange scene played out on Wednesday, June 24, at River Oaks Elementary School in Woodbridge, where officers from the Prince William County Police Department were called after a man allegedly threatened a security officer and displayed a gun before walking away from campus. According to investigators, shortly before 8:45 a.m., a school security officer approached 40-year-old Woodbridge resident Dewayne Andrew Williams as he walked his dog on school property. Then thi…

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by Zak Failla
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