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

Waldorf, MD
Breaking News
WMATA Train Operator Forged Doctors' Names, Recruited Coworkers: Feds WMATA Train Operator Forged Doctors' Names, Recruited Coworkers: Feds WMATA Train Operator Forged Doctors' Names, Recruited Coworkers: Feds
Wmata Train Operator Forged Doctors' Names, Recruited Coworkers: Feds It wasn't just one fake claim. Federal prosecutors say a WMATA train operator built a years-long insurance fraud scheme by recruiting coworkers, forging doctors' names and cashing in on injuries that never happened. Michelle Shropshire, 55, of Waldorf, was sentenced Tuesday, Aug. 4, to 24 months in federal prison after orchestrating a four-year plot that defrauded AFLAC of more than $362,000, according to the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Prosecutors say Shropshire, who worked as a train operator for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, recruited fellow …

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by Zak Failla
Fairfax, VA
Your Community
Virginia Confirms First Locally Acquired Dengue Case As Mosquito Spreads Virus Virginia Confirms First Locally Acquired Dengue Case As Mosquito Spreads Virus Virginia Confirms First Locally Acquired Dengue Case As Mosquito Spreads Virus
Virginia Confirms First Locally Acquired Dengue Case As Mosquito Spreads Virus A mosquito bite in Northern Virginia has health officials watching closely. Virginia has confirmed its first documented case of locally acquired dengue virus, marking a milestone state health officials say is rare but important, even as they stress the overall risk to the public remains low. The Virginia Department of Health announced that a Northern Virginia resident contracted dengue despite having no known travel outside Virginia before becoming sick. The investigation, conducted with the Fairfax County and Loudoun County health departments, found the patient had been in close proximity…

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by Zak Failla
Woodbridge, VA
Your Community
Who Was The Man Found Dead, Decomposing Behind A Prince William Business In 2002? Who Was The Man Found Dead, Decomposing Behind A Prince William Business In 2002? Who Was The Man Found Dead, Decomposing Behind A Prince William Business In 2002?
Who Was The Man Found Dead, Decomposing Behind A Prince William Business In 2002? He walked into the woods carrying little more than the clothes on his back. More than two decades later, no one has figured out who he was. Prince William County detectives are asking the public to take another look at one of the area's oldest unsolved mysteries, hoping someone recognizes the face, the clothing, or even the small everyday items found alongside an unidentified man whose remains were discovered on July 29, 2002, behind a commercial business in the 8100 block of Sudley Road in Manassas. The case has remained frozen in time for 23 years. Investigators said the decomposed rema…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
WATCH: Massive 2-Alarm Fire Tears Through DC Apartments, Leaving 44 Without Homes WATCH: Massive 2-Alarm Fire Tears Through DC Apartments, Leaving 44 Without Homes WATCH: Massive 2-Alarm Fire Tears Through DC Apartments, Leaving 44 Without Homes
Watch: Massive 2-Alarm Fire Tears Through DC Apartments, Leaving 44 Without Homes A wall of flames. Thick black smoke. Then an all-out fight to keep an entire apartment building from going up. More than 150 firefighters battled a massive two-alarm blaze Tuesday afternoon in Southeast DC after fire tore through the roof of an occupied apartment building, forcing dozens of residents, including 16 children, from their homes. The fire broke out around 2:18 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, at an apartment building in the 5300 block of E Street SE, where crews quickly found flames racing through the upper floors and roof. Update: 2 Alarm Fire 5300 Block of E Street SE2nd alarm was ca…

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by Zak Failla
Lexington Park, MD
Obituaries
'You Always Had A Smile': Loved Ones Remember Jesse Fultz Sr. After Maryland Motorcycle Crash 'You Always Had A Smile': Loved Ones Remember Jesse Fultz Sr. After Maryland Motorcycle Crash 'You Always Had A Smile': Loved Ones Remember Jesse Fultz Sr. After Maryland Motorcycle Crash
'You Always Had A Smile': Loved Ones Remember Jesse Fultz Sr. After Maryland Motorcycle Crash The streets will glow with candlelight this week, but they won't be able to fill the space Jesse Fultz Sr. leaves behind. Maryland is mourning the sudden loss of the devoted husband, father, brother and friend after the Jefferson family man was killed in a motorcycle crash, leaving behind his wife, Becky, and their two young sons, Junior and Tucker. As loved ones struggle to process the tragedy, one message has echoed across social media again and again: Jesse made people feel like family. "To have you stripped away from us within the blink of an eye hurts different because we all thought …

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by Zak Failla
Elkton, MD
Your Community
'Mr. Money Bags' Wins $1M Maryland Lottery Prize On Last Ticket In Machine 'Mr. Money Bags' Wins $1M Maryland Lottery Prize On Last Ticket In Machine 'Mr. Money Bags' Wins $1M Maryland Lottery Prize On Last Ticket In Machine
'Mr. Money Bags' Wins $1M Maryland Lottery Prize On Last Ticket In Machine Talk about leaving nothing behind. A Maryland mechanic became an instant millionaire after buying the very last scratch-off ticket left in a vending machine, turning a split-second decision into a $1 million payday. The Cecil County man, who now jokingly goes by "Mr. Money Bags," wasn't even planning to buy that particular ticket. He had just picked up his children from the babysitter and stopped at the Royal Farms on Perryville Road in Perryville when something caught his eye. The customer in front of him had been loading up on Triple Red 777s scratch-offs. By the time it was his turn, …

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
140 Guns Hidden In Air Compressors: Ex-Haitian Police Officer Pleads Guilty In DC 140 Guns Hidden In Air Compressors: Ex-Haitian Police Officer Pleads Guilty In DC 140 Guns Hidden In Air Compressors: Ex-Haitian Police Officer Pleads Guilty In DC
140 Guns Hidden In Air Compressors: Ex-Haitian Police Officer Pleads Guilty In DC They weren't shipping air compressors. They were shipping an arsenal. A years-long gun trafficking scheme unraveled in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, Aug. 4, when a former Haitian National Police officer admitted smuggling at least 140 firearms from South Florida to Haiti by hiding them inside industrial air compressors packed with foam insulation, federal prosecutors announced. Jean Robert Casimir, 53, of Lauderhill, FL, pleaded guilty in US District Court in DC to conspiracy, smuggling, and violating US export control laws for orchestrating the operation, according to the US Attorney's Offic…

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by Zak Failla
Elkton, MD
Your Community
Maryland Issues Measles Alert After Possible Exposure At Elkton ER Maryland Issues Measles Alert After Possible Exposure At Elkton ER Maryland Issues Measles Alert After Possible Exposure At Elkton ER
Maryland Issues Measles Alert After Possible Exposure At Elkton ER A new Maryland measles case has prompted a public health alert after officials said people may have been exposed inside a hospital emergency department on the Eastern Shore. The Maryland Department of Health announced Tuesday, Aug. 4, that a Maryland resident tested positive for measles after potentially exposing others at the ChristianaCare Union Hospital Emergency Department in Elkton. Anyone who was inside the emergency department at 106 Bow St. between 7 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 2, may have been exposed, health officials said. State health officials are conducting contact tr…

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by Zak Failla
Germantown, MD
Your Community
Kids In Stolen Kia Linked To Deadly Crash At Germantown Intersection, Police Say (UPDATED) Kids In Stolen Kia Linked To Deadly Crash At Germantown Intersection, Police Say (UPDATED) Kids In Stolen Kia Linked To Deadly Crash At Germantown Intersection, Police Say (UPDATED)
Kids In Stolen Kia Linked To Deadly Crash At Germantown Intersection, Police Say (Updated) A stolen car. Four children inside. One innocent driver never made it home. Maryland investigators say the violent Germantown crash that triggered a mass casualty response Tuesday morning began with a stolen Kia carrying juveniles as young as 12 before it slammed into another vehicle at one of Montgomery County's busiest intersections. The crash happened around 5:25 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, at Great Seneca Highway and Clopper Road, where Montgomery County police and fire crews found a white Kia Optima and a blue Toyota Matrix with catastrophic damage. The crash in Montgomery County. T…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
'He Helped Keep The Port Moving': Baltimore Mourns Longtime Longshoreman David Deon Smith 'He Helped Keep The Port Moving': Baltimore Mourns Longtime Longshoreman David Deon Smith 'He Helped Keep The Port Moving': Baltimore Mourns Longtime Longshoreman David Deon Smith
'He Helped Keep The Port Moving': Baltimore Mourns Longtime Longshoreman David Deon Smith One ordinary workday became the kind of Monday no family ever imagines. A Maryland community is mourning the loss of David "Deon" Smith, a longtime International Longshoremen's Association Local 333 member who was killed in a tragic workplace accident Monday morning, Aug. 3, at the Port of Baltimore's Dundalk Marine Terminal. Maryland Transportation Authority Police said officers responded shortly after 9 a.m. for reports of an injured worker.  Smith, 53, was struck by a crane boom during cargo-handling operations, according to authorities. First responders attempted life-saving measu…

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by Zak Failla
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