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

Woodbridge, VA
Breaking News
Suspect Who Fled After Fatal Teen Shooting Tracked To Woodbridge Home, Police Say Suspect Who Fled After Fatal Teen Shooting Tracked To Woodbridge Home, Police Say Suspect Who Fled After Fatal Teen Shooting Tracked To Woodbridge Home, Police Say
Suspect Who Fled After Fatal Teen Shooting Tracked To Woodbridge Home, Police Say He disappeared after leading officers on a pursuit. Twenty-five days later, investigators found him. The man accused of killing a 16-year-old in Woodbridge before ditching his car and disappearing on foot after a police chase is now behind bars. Prince William County detectives, working with the US Marshals Service, arrested 25-year-old Damon Jamon Atwater at his Woodbridge home on Thursday, July 30. His disappearance had been the biggest unanswered question since the July 5 killing. Investigators said the shooting happened around 10:12 p.m. in the 16700 block of Blackjack Oak Lane, …

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by Zak Failla
Fairfax, VA
Breaking News
FBI Won't Give Up On 6-Year-Old Killed Playing Games In Virginia Bedroom FBI Won't Give Up On 6-Year-Old Killed Playing Games In Virginia Bedroom FBI Won't Give Up On 6-Year-Old Killed Playing Games In Virginia Bedroom
FBI Won't Give Up On 6-Year-Old Killed Playing Games In Virginia Bedroom Justice still hasn't caught up to whoever killed Kingston Campbell. In Virginia, more than three years after the 6-year-old was fatally shot while playing video games in his bedroom in Lynchburg, the FBI is making a renewed push to solve the case, offering up to $30,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. Kingston Campbell was killed while playing video games in his bed. Lynchburg PD/GoFundMe photo Kingston was home on the evening of May 2, 2023, when multiple people believed to be involved in local gang violence opened fire in the area of the …

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by Zak Failla
Bowie, MD
On Your Side
The Next Chapter For Maryland's Former Six Flags Starts With A New Name The Next Chapter For Maryland's Former Six Flags Starts With A New Name The Next Chapter For Maryland's Former Six Flags Starts With A New Name
The Next Chapter For Maryland's Former Six Flags Starts With A New Name Maryland's Six Flags is gone. Now, the place generations of families knew for roller coasters, water slides, school trips, and summer memories is about to get something it's never had before. A new name. Prince George's County officials are asking residents to help choose what the former Six Flags America property in Bowie will be called as plans move forward to transform the 500-acre site into a new mixed-use destination. The public can vote from five proposed names or submit a write-in suggestion through an online survey launched this week. The finalists are: The Ascend at Central Av…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Your Community
Johns Hopkins Researcher Detained By ICE As Coworkers Race To Bring Her Home Johns Hopkins Researcher Detained By ICE As Coworkers Race To Bring Her Home Johns Hopkins Researcher Detained By ICE As Coworkers Race To Bring Her Home
Johns Hopkins Researcher Detained By ICE As Coworkers Race To Bring Her Home Fatima Ameaka never made it onto her flight. Instead, the Maryland research associate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health was detained by ICE agents while boarding a domestic flight on Tuesday, July 28, according to her coworkers.  Now they're doing everything they can to get her back. In less than a day, colleagues launched a GoFundMe to help pay for Ameaka's legal representation, saying they were blindsided by her detention and determined to help secure her release.  By Thursday, the campaign had raised more than $32,000 from hundreds of donors. To the…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Rhode Island Shooter Made It 500 Miles Before Marshals Found 'Miracle Baby' In Virginia Rhode Island Shooter Made It 500 Miles Before Marshals Found 'Miracle Baby' In Virginia Rhode Island Shooter Made It 500 Miles Before Marshals Found 'Miracle Baby' In Virginia
Rhode Island Shooter Made It 500 Miles Before Marshals Found 'Miracle Baby' In Virginia Tyquan Johnson made hundreds of miles from home. Then his run came to an end in Virginia. The manhunt for a shooting suspect ended in Virginia when a 19-year-old Rhode Island man was tracked down by federal investigators after two people were shot in Newport, authorities announced. Johnson was taken into custody around 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 29, by members of the US Marshals Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force in Newport News.  Investigators with the Newport Police Department say Johnson fled south following a shooting on Sunday, July 19, that left two people injured. Off…

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by Zak Failla
Gaithersburg, MD
Breaking News
Search Enters Third Day For Missing Potomac River Swimmer Near Sandy Landing Search Enters Third Day For Missing Potomac River Swimmer Near Sandy Landing Search Enters Third Day For Missing Potomac River Swimmer Near Sandy Landing
Search Enters Third Day For Missing Potomac River Swimmer Near Sandy Landing More than two days after one swimmer made it safely to shore and another disappeared beneath the river's powerful current, Maryland rescue crews were back on the water Thursday morning, July 30, hoping to bring the search to an end. The latest operation resumed around daybreak on Thursday near Spotzbergen Rock, just south of Sandy Landing in Montgomery County, where an approximately 25-year-old man vanished around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 28. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue's Swift Water Rescue Team returned with boats equipped with sonar and search dogs after crews spent hours combing …

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by Zak Failla
Odenton, MD
On Your Side
$1M Powerball Ticket Sold At Odenton Royal Farms As $707M Jackpot Keeps Climbing $1M Powerball Ticket Sold At Odenton Royal Farms As $707M Jackpot Keeps Climbing $1M Powerball Ticket Sold At Odenton Royal Farms As $707M Jackpot Keeps Climbing
$1M Powerball Ticket Sold At Odenton Royal Farms As $707M Jackpot Keeps Climbing One number stood between someone in Maryland and a life that would've looked very different. Instead, they're walking away a newly minted millionaire. The winning Powerball ticket was sold Wednesday, July 29, at the Royal Farms on Annapolis Road in Odenton, Anne Arundel County, according to the Maryland Lottery. The ticket matched the first five numbers drawn, 30, 36, 40, 42 and 57, but missed the Powerball number, 2, costing the winner the massive jackpot. Not that a million dollars is a bad consolation prize. The lucky player has 182 days from the drawing to claim the seven-figure payo…

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by Zak Failla
Annandale, VA
Breaking News
Annandale Man Shot After Attempting To Disarm Officer During Search, Police Say Annandale Man Shot After Attempting To Disarm Officer During Search, Police Say Annandale Man Shot After Attempting To Disarm Officer During Search, Police Say
Annandale Man Shot After Attempting To Disarm Officer During Search, Police Say Nehemia Fuentes Banegas had already stabbed himself. Then he vanished into the woods. The bizarre chain of events ended Tuesday morning, July 28, when Fairfax County police say the 26-year-old Annandale man suddenly burst from thick brush, grabbed an officer's handgun and was shot during the struggle. It all began around 9:57 a.m. at a home in the 7000 block of Sutter Lane, where officers responded to a domestic dispute involving Fuentes Banegas. By the time officers arrived, investigators said Fuentes Banegas had armed himself with two knives, accidentally stabbed himself with one an…

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by Zak Failla
Sterling, VA
Breaking News
$20B Overhaul Planned At Dulles Airport: Here's What To Expect $20B Overhaul Planned At Dulles Airport: Here's What To Expect $20B Overhaul Planned At Dulles Airport: Here's What To Expect
$20B Overhaul Planned At Dulles Airport: Here's What To Expect Dulles International Airport is getting a makeover unlike anything in its history. Virginia's busiest international airport is set for a sweeping transformation under a new $20 billion-plus plan announced Wednesday, July 29, that promises new terminals, expanded flight capacity, faster security, improved baggage handling and the eventual retirement of some of the airport's oldest facilities. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority joined President Donald Trump, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and United Airlines executives at the White House to unveil the partnership, which offic…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Bomb Threat Shuts Down Main Street Area In Virginia Town (DEVELOPING) Bomb Threat Shuts Down Main Street Area In Virginia Town (DEVELOPING) Bomb Threat Shuts Down Main Street Area In Virginia Town (DEVELOPING)
Bomb Threat Shuts Down Main Street Area In Virginia Town (Developing) A bomb threat has brought a large police response to a Virginia downtown, forcing evacuations and closing off part of Main Street. The threat was reported just after 3 p.m. on Tuesday, July 29, when someone called the Fauquier County Emergency Communications Center to report a bomb threat targeting a business in Warrenton, according to the Fauquier County Sheriff's Office. Civilian evacuations have been completed, and law enforcement officers have begun clearing the area for any potential threats, authorities said. The area remains closed as of the sheriff's office's latest update, issued …

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by Zak Failla
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