Fair 85°

Zak Failla

Assistant Managing Editor

[email protected]

FOLLOW ON

Facebook Twitter Linkedin Instagram

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

Sports
Penguins Reporter Axed From Dream Job Fresh Off Honeymoon, She Says Penguins Reporter Axed From Dream Job Fresh Off Honeymoon, She Says
Penguins Reporter Axed From Dream Job Fresh Off Honeymoon, She Says Hailey Hunter had just gotten married, returned from her honeymoon, and settled into the life she spent years building in Pittsburgh. Then the dream job disappeared. The popular SportsNet Pittsburgh reporter confirmed this week that she is no longer with the network after three seasons covering the Pittsburgh Penguins and Pittsburgh Pirates, sparking backlash from fellow broadcasters and fans. "Unfortunately, I was told the Penguins have decided that they simply wanted to move in a different direction with the role," Hunter told TribLive. "I really wasn't given any details, but I understan…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
News
Hikers Warned After Suspected Norovirus Cases Reported In Shenandoah National Park In Virginia Hikers Warned After Suspected Norovirus Cases Reported In Shenandoah National Park In Virginia
Hikers Warned After Suspected Norovirus Cases Reported In Shenandoah National Park In Virginia A suspected norovirus outbreak that has been making its way along portions of the Appalachian Trail has now been reported in Shenandoah National Park, prompting renewed warnings for hikers heading into Virginia's backcountry. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy said it has received multiple reports of hikers experiencing stomach bugs and gastrointestinal illness symptoms along sections of the trail in Virginia. The latest reported case came from Blackrock Hut in Shenandoah National Park, according to an update issued by the conservancy.  Earlier reports had already been documented betwe…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Obituaries
Father, Church Leader Brian Dan Leaves Behind More Than A Family After Fatal Motorcycle Crash Father, Church Leader Brian Dan Leaves Behind More Than A Family After Fatal Motorcycle Crash
Father, Church Leader Brian Dan Leaves Behind More Than A Family After Fatal Motorcycle Crash A Northern Virginia family is facing an unimaginable loss after a husband, father, church leader, and community volunteer was killed in a motorcycle crash while traveling near his Chantilly home. Brian Dan, 44, suffered life-threatening injuries in a crash involving his motorcycle and an SUV shortly after 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 17, at the intersection of Tall Cedars Parkway and South Riding Boulevard, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office. Dan was transported to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries and later died.  The driver of the SUV, a 61-year-old Chantil…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
News
Maryland Child Flown To Hospital After Serious Crash Triggers Helicopter Rescue (PHOTOS) Maryland Child Flown To Hospital After Serious Crash Triggers Helicopter Rescue (PHOTOS)
Maryland Child Flown To Hospital After Serious Crash Triggers Helicopter Rescue (Photos) A young child had to be airlifted to an area hospital early on Friday morning after he was involved in a serious crash in Maryland, officials say. Early on June 19, first responders in Anne Arundel County were called to an intersection in Friendship, where there was a reported collision that left the child with critical injuries that required a Maryland State Police helicopter. Photos from the scene show Maryland State Police flight medics waiting beside the helicopter as crews wheeled the child across the landing zone and toward the aircraft. The child was airlifted out of Anne Aru…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Business
Recovered Food Won't Return To Aldi Shelves. It's Going To A Maryland Food Bank Instead Recovered Food Won't Return To Aldi Shelves. It's Going To A Maryland Food Bank Instead
Recovered Food Won't Return To Aldi Shelves. It's Going To A Maryland Food Bank Instead A cart full of groceries allegedly stolen from an Aldi in Maryland is getting a second chance. After St. Mary's County deputies recovered the food during a theft investigation on Thursday, June 18, store managers asked that it be donated to a local food bank instead. The request came after deputies arrested Christopher Lamontai Smith, 32, of Suitland, and Keon Rondell Mathis, 35, of Clinton, following theft reports at Aldi and Lowe's in California. According to the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office, the pair was linked to separate thefts reported less than an hour apart at the neighboring…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
$500K Maryland Armored Truck Robbery Suspect Caught Months Later In DC, Police Say $500K Maryland Armored Truck Robbery Suspect Caught Months Later In DC, Police Say
$500K Maryland Armored Truck Robbery Suspect Caught Months Later In DC, Police Say Months after Jerronta Bryant stole more than $500,000 in cash from an armored truck in Maryland, police say he has been apprehended with the help of federal authorities. The 31-year-old Capitol Heights man was arrested this week in connection with the bold November 2025 robbery in Clinton, according to the Prince George's County Police Department. Investigators say that shortly before 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 3, 2025, officers responded to the 8800 block of Woodyard Road in Clinton for the armed robbery of an armored truck. It was determined that multiple people approached the driver as he p…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Driver In Deadly Gaithersburg Hit-And-Run Arrested While Trying To Fly To Honduras: Police Driver In Deadly Gaithersburg Hit-And-Run Arrested While Trying To Fly To Honduras: Police
Driver In Deadly Gaithersburg Hit-And-Run Arrested While Trying To Fly To Honduras: Police A deadly early morning hit-and-run in Maryland ended with the arrest of a 26-year-old man hundreds of miles away in New Jersey as he attempted to flee to Honduras, police say. Josue David Carranza Castellon was arrested at Newark International Airport on Thursday, June 18, apparently attempting to leave the country following a fatal crash in Gaithersburg the day before. According to the Montgomery County Police Department, shortly after 4:45 a.m. on Wednesday, June 17, 56-year-old Brian Roy Longaberger was struck by a gray 2011 Honda CR-V at the intersection of Muddy Branch Road and We…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Virginia Man Accused Of Sexually Assaulting 9-Year-Old Boy In Bathroom Stall: Police Virginia Man Accused Of Sexually Assaulting 9-Year-Old Boy In Bathroom Stall: Police
Virginia Man Accused Of Sexually Assaulting 9-Year-Old Boy In Bathroom Stall: Police It took officers in Fairfax County less than a day to track down an Alexandria man who allegedly sexually assaulted a 9-year-old boy in a bathroom stall, police say. Charles Vincent Jones II, 43, is being held without bond following an investigation into an incident that played out in Woodlawn earlier this week. According to the Fairfax County Police Department, at around 7:10 p.m. on June 16, officers were called to the 8100 block of Fernlake Court after a boy reported that an unknown man entered his bathroom stall and inappropriately touched him. Jones was identified as a possible suspec…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Maryland Barn Becomes Inferno Despite Owner's Attempt To Fight Flames With Garden Hose (PHOTOS) Maryland Barn Becomes Inferno Despite Owner's Attempt To Fight Flames With Garden Hose (PHOTOS)
Maryland Barn Becomes Inferno Despite Owner's Attempt To Fight Flames With Garden Hose (Photos) A Maryland barn fire went from backyard scare to full-blown inferno after a neighbor spotted flames and called the owner, who raced back to fight it himself with a garden hose, officials said. He needed a bigger hose. The blaze broke out at around 8 p.m. on Thursday, June 18, in the 1200 block of Baldwin Mill Road in Jarrettsville, according to the Office of the State Fire Marshal. Investigators say the owner had been using a charcoal grill earlier in the evening and believed it had gone out. It had not. The owner and his girlfriend had left the home when a neighbor called to say th…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
News
'Playboy' Hid Fentanyl In Maryland Home Where His Young Children Slept, Feds Say 'Playboy' Hid Fentanyl In Maryland Home Where His Young Children Slept, Feds Say
'Playboy' Hid Fentanyl In Maryland Home Where His Young Children Slept, Feds Say A Maryland fentanyl dealer with a curious nickname who kept drugs in the same home where his young children slept is headed to federal prison, authorities announced. Fredrick Crawford, 33, also known as "Playboy," was sentenced to 66 months behind bars after investigators linked him to a fentanyl trafficking operation that stretched into Washington, DC. But it was what agents found at home that stood out after he sold nearly 10 ounces to undercover officers. When federal investigators searched Crawford's residence in October 2025, they found fentanyl, crack cocaine, powder cocaine, marijua…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Prev Page 1 of 3795 1 2 3 4 5 Next
1 - 10 of 37,948 articles