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

Arlington, VA
On Your Side
'Breathe!': Virginia Woman Screams Her Way Into $1.73M Lottery Jackpot 'Breathe!': Virginia Woman Screams Her Way Into $1.73M Lottery Jackpot 'Breathe!': Virginia Woman Screams Her Way Into $1.73M Lottery Jackpot
'Breathe!': Virginia Woman Screams Her Way Into $1.73M Lottery Jackpot Sometimes a scream is bad news. For one Chesterfield woman, it meant she had just become a newly minted millionaire. The anonymous Virginia Lottery player was sitting at her computer one night playing the Lottery's online Banker's Bonus Boost game when everything changed in an instant. "I started screaming!" she told Lottery officials after landing a progressive jackpot worth $1,732,009. The scream was loud enough to send her husband sprinting into the room. He glanced at the computer screen, realized what had happened, and offered perhaps the most sensible advice anyone could in that mo…

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by Zak Failla
Upper Marlboro, MD
Obituaries
'The Glitter In Their Lives': Will Burkowske Remembered For Joy, Kindness, Final Gift To Others 'The Glitter In Their Lives': Will Burkowske Remembered For Joy, Kindness, Final Gift To Others 'The Glitter In Their Lives': Will Burkowske Remembered For Joy, Kindness, Final Gift To Others
'The Glitter In Their Lives': Will Burkowske Remembered For Joy, Kindness, Final Gift To Others Some people leave behind memories. Will Burkowske left behind sparkle. The 38-year-old, remembered by loved ones for a smile that could light up a room and a heart that seemed to have room for everyone, died unexpectedly in Maryland, leaving behind a grieving family, countless friends, devoted clients, and a community still trying to make sense of the loss. To those closest to him, though, the overwhelming feeling isn't just heartbreak. It's gratitude that they got to know him. "Our beloved Will Burkowske was taken from us far too soon, and our hearts are broken," his family wrote in…

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by Zak Failla
Clifton-Fairfax Station, VA
Breaking News
'The World Deserved More Of His Light': Andrew Posadas Remembered For Joy, Kindness In Virginia 'The World Deserved More Of His Light': Andrew Posadas Remembered For Joy, Kindness In Virginia 'The World Deserved More Of His Light': Andrew Posadas Remembered For Joy, Kindness In Virginia
'The World Deserved More Of His Light': Andrew Posadas Remembered For Joy, Kindness In Virginia Andrew Posadas had a way of making people feel like they mattered. The 16-year-old Woodbridge teen was found dead after he was reported missing from his Prince William County home on Monday, July 27, police confirmed.  Investigators said no foul play is expected. Posadas left his home on Linsey Court at approximately 7:05 p.m. after making concerning statements to his family, according to the Prince William County Police Department. An endangered missing-person alert followed as police, relatives, and community groups searched for the South County High School student. Days later, th…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
On Your Side
One Windy Day Left Virginia Farm Fighting For Its Future: 'Everything Changed In An Instant' One Windy Day Left Virginia Farm Fighting For Its Future: 'Everything Changed In An Instant' One Windy Day Left Virginia Farm Fighting For Its Future: 'Everything Changed In An Instant'
One Windy Day Left Virginia Farm Fighting For Its Future: 'Everything Changed In An Instant' Fourteen years of planting, growing, and building a dream may have unraveled in a single afternoon. In Virginia, a Clear Brook organic farm that has spent more than a decade supplying vegetables to families across the Shenandoah Valley and the greater Washington, DC region says herbicide drift from a nearby application has devastated its summer crops, forced layoffs, and left its future hanging in the balance. Shenandoah Seasonal says a herbicide application on a particularly windy day drifted onto its certified organic farm, where the chemicals became trapped inside the farm's high tunnels…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
Suspect Arrested In Fatal Stabbing Of 18-Year-Old Brielle Handy In Baltimore: Police Suspect Arrested In Fatal Stabbing Of 18-Year-Old Brielle Handy In Baltimore: Police Suspect Arrested In Fatal Stabbing Of 18-Year-Old Brielle Handy In Baltimore: Police
Suspect Arrested In Fatal Stabbing Of 18-Year-Old Brielle Handy In Baltimore: Police It took a week, but detectives say the woman accused of killing an 18-year-old in Maryland is finally behind bars. Baltimore Police have arrested Dasianne Richardson, 34, in connection with the fatal stabbing of Brielle Handy, 18, in Southwest Baltimore. Richardson was taken into custody on Saturday, Aug. 1, by Warrant Apprehension detectives and transported to the Central Booking Intake Facility, where she was charged with first-degree murder, police announced Monday, Aug. 3. The arrest stems from a stabbing reported around 8 p.m. Friday, July 25, in the 3200 block of West Baltimore Stree…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Armed DC Carjacking Suspects Captured After Chase Ends On Busy Maryland Road: Police Armed DC Carjacking Suspects Captured After Chase Ends On Busy Maryland Road: Police Armed DC Carjacking Suspects Captured After Chase Ends On Busy Maryland Road: Police
Armed DC Carjacking Suspects Captured After Chase Ends On Busy Maryland Road: Police A driver in a stolen car did not make it far from the nation's capital. Two suspects were taken into custody early Monday morning after a vehicle stolen in an armed DC carjacking crossed into Maryland, according to the Montgomery County Department of Police. Montgomery County police said officers, along with Gaithersburg police, located the stolen vehicle near Quince Orchard Road and Route 28 after receiving information from DC police that it had been taken in an armed carjacking. Officers attempted a traffic stop, but the driver had other plans. According to the department, the driver sp…

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by Zak Failla
Woodbridge, VA
Breaking News
Gunman Who Killed Relative In Woodbridge Home Captured After Days On The Run: Police (UPDATED) Gunman Who Killed Relative In Woodbridge Home Captured After Days On The Run: Police (UPDATED) Gunman Who Killed Relative In Woodbridge Home Captured After Days On The Run: Police (UPDATED)
Gunman Who Killed Relative In Woodbridge Home Captured After Days On The Run: Police (Updated) He didn't stay on the run for long. Virginia homicide detectives have arrested the 23-year-old man accused of gunning down his family member inside a Woodbridge apartment complex last week, ending a nearly weeklong manhunt. Thomas Lynwood Brown, of Triangle, was taken into custody on Sunday, Aug. 2, by members of the US Marshals Fugitive Task Force at a location on Westfields Boulevard in Centreville, according to Prince William County police. Brown is accused of fatally shooting 21-year-old Ricardo Xavier Haley, of Gainesville, during a family dispute around 9:12 p.m. on Monday, July 27, …

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Firefighter Hurt As Flames Tear Through Massive Arlington Home (DEVELOPING) Firefighter Hurt As Flames Tear Through Massive Arlington Home (DEVELOPING) Firefighter Hurt As Flames Tear Through Massive Arlington Home (DEVELOPING)
Firefighter Hurt As Flames Tear Through Massive Arlington Home (Developing) The back of the house is almost unrecognizable. In Arlington, firefighters spent more than an hour battling a destructive blaze at a home in the 4400 block of 33rd Road North Sunday afternoon, leaving behind blown-out windows, smoke-blackened walls and one injured firefighter. Fire crews were dispatched shortly before 1:30 p.m., prompting officials to urge drivers to avoid the neighborhood as a heavy emergency response converged on the scene. By 2:28 p.m., Arlington County Fire and EMS announced the fire had been extinguished. One firefighter was taken to a hospital with non-life-threaten…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Your Community
Johns Hopkins Researcher Detained By ICE At BWI Released In Texas, Returning To Maryland Johns Hopkins Researcher Detained By ICE At BWI Released In Texas, Returning To Maryland Johns Hopkins Researcher Detained By ICE At BWI Released In Texas, Returning To Maryland
Johns Hopkins Researcher Detained By ICE At BWI Released In Texas, Returning To Maryland She never made it onto her flight. Now, it's her coworkers making the trip. Dr.. Fatima Ameaka, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researcher detained by ICE while boarding a domestic flight at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, has been released from federal custody and is on her way back to Baltimore, loved ones say. The update came over the weekend from the organizer of a GoFundMe launched by Ameaka's coworkers just hours after her detention. "I am writing with wonderful news!" organizer Sarah F. wrote. "Fatima was released from a detention f…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Maryland Officer, Marine Veteran Faces Biggest Battle Yet After Stage 3 Cancer Diagnosis Maryland Officer, Marine Veteran Faces Biggest Battle Yet After Stage 3 Cancer Diagnosis Maryland Officer, Marine Veteran Faces Biggest Battle Yet After Stage 3 Cancer Diagnosis
Maryland Officer, Marine Veteran Faces Biggest Battle Yet After Stage 3 Cancer Diagnosis Some battles can't be won with a badge. In Maryland, US Park Police Officer Andre Lassiter is facing the toughest fight of his life as he undergoes chemotherapy for stage 3 cancer that has spread to his lungs. The husband and father of four has spent much of his adult life serving others.  After more than nine years in the US Marine Corps, where he held leadership roles as an infantry team leader, infantry squad leader and career planner, Lassiter joined the US Park Police in June 2023. He also earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Mount St. Mary's University last…

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by Zak Failla
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