Partly Cloudy 98°

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

Lifestyle
See The Rare Virginia Document Where King George III Was Literally Crossed Out: Here's When See The Rare Virginia Document Where King George III Was Literally Crossed Out: Here's When
See The Rare Virginia Document Where King George III Was Literally Crossed Out: Here's When History has a funny way of showing up right on time. Just days before the Fourth of July, Virginia residents will have a rare chance to see an original document created as the American Revolution was unfolding, one that captures a remarkable turning point in the fight for independence. In Leesburg, the Thomas Balch Library has acquired the original March 11, 1776, bond appointing Philip Noland as sheriff of Loudoun County, a document historians say offers an extraordinary glimpse into Virginia's break from British rule. The manuscript is more than 250 years old. It formally pledged Noland…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Rooftop Escape Plan Ends With Silver Spring Burglary Suspect In Hospital, Then Jail: Police Rooftop Escape Plan Ends With Silver Spring Burglary Suspect In Hospital, Then Jail: Police
Rooftop Escape Plan Ends With Silver Spring Burglary Suspect In Hospital, Then Jail: Police Ademu Cummings took his best shot at getting away after a series of burglaries in Maryland. It ended with the 58-year-old Silver Spring man in the hospital. Cummings is now facing charges after allegedly breaking into the same property and attempting to outrun officers with a bold leap off of a Montgomery County rooftop, police say. It ended poorly. On Wednesday, July 1, the Montgomery County Department of Police announced that Cummings has been arrested following a string of burglaries reported last month. The investigation began on Monday, May 25, when officers responded to the facilit…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
News
Maryland Boy Breathes On His Own Again After Rare Stroke Turned Beach Trip Into Nightmare Maryland Boy Breathes On His Own Again After Rare Stroke Turned Beach Trip Into Nightmare
Maryland Boy Breathes On His Own Again After Rare Stroke Turned Beach Trip Into Nightmare Conor Bailey should be spending his summer on the soccer field. Instead, the Maryland boy has spent the past two weeks fighting his way back from a rare stroke that struck without warning during a beach trip. Now, his family is celebrating one of his biggest milestones yet. His family announced on Wednesday, July 1, that the young soccer player is officially breathing on his own without oxygen after suffering a rare basilar artery stroke in mid-June. "We are so excited to share another huge milestone," organizer Erin Sidelinker wrote in a GoFundMe update. "Conor is officially off oxygen! …

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Residents Sent To Burn Centers As Massive Two-Alarm Fire Rips Through Apartments (PHOTOS) Residents Sent To Burn Centers As Massive Two-Alarm Fire Rips Through Apartments (PHOTOS)
Residents Sent To Burn Centers As Massive Two-Alarm Fire Rips Through Apartments (Photos) A two-alarm blaze tore through the roof of a Virginia apartment building, sending several people to burn centers while crews worked to knock down the flames on Wednesday morning. Early on July 1, first responders in Prince William County and Fairfax County were called to the 12000 block of Ripple Creek Court in Woodbridge, where multiple reports of a massive blaze that broke out in the back of a multi-unit apartment building before sunrise. Before firefighters arrived, officers with the Prince William County Police Department alerted residents and helped several occupants safely evacuate th…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Politics
DOJ Sues Virginia To Block New AR-15 Ban, Calls Law Unconstitutional DOJ Sues Virginia To Block New AR-15 Ban, Calls Law Unconstitutional
DOJ Sues Virginia To Block New AR-15 Ban, Calls Law Unconstitutional Virginia's new assault weapons law is already headed to federal court. The US Department of Justice sued the Commonwealth on Wednesday, July 1, alleging the state's newly enacted ban on the commercial purchase and sale of many AR-15-style rifles violates the Second Amendment. They are also asking a federal judge to block enforcement of key portions of the law. The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Richmond, names both the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Virginia Department of State Police as defendants, arguing the law criminalizes the sale and purchase of rifles "owned by millions o…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Virginia Teen Shot Himself, Then Called 911 To Report Robbery That Never Happened: Police Virginia Teen Shot Himself, Then Called 911 To Report Robbery That Never Happened: Police
Virginia Teen Shot Himself, Then Called 911 To Report Robbery That Never Happened: Police One teen's robbery story unraveled almost as quickly as it began. A 19-year-old Virginia resident who called 911 claiming he had been robbed and shot by strangers is now facing criminal charges after investigators say he accidentally shot himself in the hand instead. The bizarre chain of events unfolded shortly after 7:45 a.m. on Tuesday, June 30, when officers were called to a home in the 10400 block of Bermuda Lane in the Manassas area after Jaydon Isaiah Aloumouati reported that unknown men had robbed him and shot him, according to Prince William County police. It didn't take long for d…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Electrical Malfunction Likely Sparked Apartment Blaze That Killed Maryland Man: Fire Officials Electrical Malfunction Likely Sparked Apartment Blaze That Killed Maryland Man: Fire Officials
Electrical Malfunction Likely Sparked Apartment Blaze That Killed Maryland Man: Fire Officials A 63-year-old man has been identified after a fatal apartment fire in Maryland that investigators say was accidental and likely sparked by an electrical malfunction, officials said. David Richardson died after the fire broke out around 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, June 30, inside an apartment building in the 11500 block of Little Patuxent Parkway in Columbia, according to the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services. Firefighters were first called for a reported odor of smoke in the building. When crews arrived, they found smoke coming from the structure and immediately went inside, offi…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Maryland Candy Scare Takes Unexpected Turn After Man In White Van Calls Police On Himself Maryland Candy Scare Takes Unexpected Turn After Man In White Van Calls Police On Himself
Maryland Candy Scare Takes Unexpected Turn After Man In White Van Calls Police On Himself Every parent's heart skipped a beat. A report of children running from a man offering candy from a white van sent a Maryland community scrambling on Tuesday, triggering a viral police alert that ended just hours later with an unexpected phone call from the very man investigators were trying to find. The scare unfolded around noon on June 30 in the area of Cambridge Court in Taneytown, where police were called after children reported an older man in a white work or camper-style van offered them candy before driving away when the kids ran, according to the Taneytown Police Department. Fea…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Gaithersburg Man Collected Gold Bars From Virginia Seniors In 'Apple Support' Scam,: Sheriff Gaithersburg Man Collected Gold Bars From Virginia Seniors In 'Apple Support' Scam,: Sheriff
Gaithersburg Man Collected Gold Bars From Virginia Seniors In 'Apple Support' Scam,: Sheriff It started with a pop-up warning. It ended with strangers walking away with gold bars. A Maryland man is behind bars after investigators say he helped carry out an elaborate scam that convinced elderly Virginia residents that their life savings were under attack, tricking them into converting their money into gold before someone arrived to collect it. Gaithersburg resident Junjie Wu, 29, was arrested by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office and is behind bars following an investigation into the gold bar scheme, authorities announced. Specifically, Wu was charged with: Obtaining money by f…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
News
Bullet Whizzed Past Maryland Man's Ear During Park Showdown With GF's Stepfather: Prosecutors Bullet Whizzed Past Maryland Man's Ear During Park Showdown With GF's Stepfather: Prosecutors
Bullet Whizzed Past Maryland Man's Ear During Park Showdown With GF's Stepfather: Prosecutors A family squabble nearly turned deadly in Maryland when a convicted felon broke out a gun and began firing at his step-daughter's boyfriend during an argument. Salisbury resident Arnold Miles has been sentenced to 20 years behind bars after being found guilty by a jury earlier this year following a strange domestic incident at the Salisbury City Park, according to the Wicomico County State's Attorney's Office. Miles's peculiar path to prison began on Jan. 22, 2025, one day after he exchanged text messages with his step-daughter and her boyfriend. According to prosecutors, "the boyfriend an…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Prev Page 1 of 3811 1 2 3 4 5 Next
1 - 10 of 38,110 articles