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

Lexington Park, MD
Obituaries
Mother Of 5 Mistaken For Deer By Maryland Hunter To Be Laid To Rest In Guatemala Mother Of 5 Mistaken For Deer By Maryland Hunter To Be Laid To Rest In Guatemala Mother Of 5 Mistaken For Deer By Maryland Hunter To Be Laid To Rest In Guatemala
Mother Of 5 Mistaken For Deer By Maryland Hunter To Be Laid To Rest In Guatemala A mother of five is being mourned after a Maryland hunter allegedly mistook her for a deer and shot her as she walked through a field with a man and two children. Santos Maria Chilel Soto, 39, of Georgetown, Delaware, died after the shooting shortly after 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 18, in a field near South Old State Road in Ellendale, Delaware State Police said. Days later, the shock of how Soto died is giving way to grief over who was lost. Her family described Soto as a beloved aunt whose sudden death has left relatives struggling to arrange her funeral, bring her body home to Guat…

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by Zak Failla
Stafford, VA
Breaking News
Fredericksburg Man's Courthouse Outburst Didn't End When Stafford Deputies Put Him In Cruiser Fredericksburg Man's Courthouse Outburst Didn't End When Stafford Deputies Put Him In Cruiser Fredericksburg Man's Courthouse Outburst Didn't End When Stafford Deputies Put Him In Cruiser
Fredericksburg Man's Courthouse Outburst Didn't End When Stafford Deputies Put Him In Cruiser A Virginia man’s courthouse outburst only got him into more trouble when he allegedly fought his arrest and then turned his attention to the police cruiser, authorities said. Christopher Beckner Jr., 29, of Fredericksburg, was arrested on Monday, Sept. 21, following a disturbance at the Stafford County Courthouse, according to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy was called to the courthouse on Courthouse Road shortly after 2:30 p.m., where Beckner was allegedly yelling obscenities inside the building and refusing to follow police directions. Deputies moved to take Beckner into c…

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by Zak Failla
Rockville, MD
Breaking News
PG County Shooting Suspect Found Dead In SUV After Standoff At Shopping Center PG County Shooting Suspect Found Dead In SUV After Standoff At Shopping Center PG County Shooting Suspect Found Dead In SUV After Standoff At Shopping Center
PG County Shooting Suspect Found Dead In SUV After Standoff At Shopping Center A Maryland shooting suspect was found dead inside an SUV Tuesday morning after refusing to come out during a police standoff at a Prince George’s County shopping center. Officers received a call from a woman on Tuesday morning who advised the Prince George's County Police Department that she had been shot by her boyfriend, who then fled, according to Deputy Chief James Keleti. The call came in around 7:15 a.m. on Sept. 22 from the 5300 block of Fisher Road, and the victim was able to give a description of his vehicle. While en route to investigate the initial shooting, Keleti said officers…

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by Zak Failla
Leesburg, VA
Your Community
From Farmers Market To Forever Home: Virginia Chocolatier Opens Downtown Shop In Leesburg From Farmers Market To Forever Home: Virginia Chocolatier Opens Downtown Shop In Leesburg From Farmers Market To Forever Home: Virginia Chocolatier Opens Downtown Shop In Leesburg
From Farmers Market To Forever Home: Virginia Chocolatier Opens Downtown Shop In Leesburg No more packing up when the season ends for one Virginia chocolatier who spent years waiting for a kitchen to call her own. The Chocolate Palette has officially opened its permanent home at 212A Loudoun St. SE in downtown Leesburg, where owner Cheryl June is serving up European-style sipping chocolates, handcrafted desserts and the Danish pancakes that helped launch her business eight years ago. The town celebrated the opening with a ribbon cutting on Thursday, Sept. 17. For June, getting there took a much longer route. A military wife and mother, June developed her love of baking while l…

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by Zak Failla
Sterling, VA
Your Community
Virginia Congressman Wants FAA To Ground New AI System Around DC Airports: 'Guinea Pigs' Virginia Congressman Wants FAA To Ground New AI System Around DC Airports: 'Guinea Pigs' Virginia Congressman Wants FAA To Ground New AI System Around DC Airports: 'Guinea Pigs'
Virginia Congressman Wants FAA To Ground New AI System Around DC Airports: 'Guinea Pigs' A new artificial intelligence system is taking flight over Virginia, and one congressman wants it grounded. Rep. Don Beyer called on the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday, Sept. 21, to immediately suspend SMART, a new AI-supported air traffic management system that began limited operations that day in the airspace around Washington, DC. “The FAA should not use my constituents as guinea pigs for an unproven AI air traffic control system,” Beyer said. The Northern Virginia Democrat, whose district includes Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, raised the alarm as federal transpo…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
'Unforeseen Challenges' Push Metro Yellow Line Repairs Into Night Before Tuesday Morning Rush 'Unforeseen Challenges' Push Metro Yellow Line Repairs Into Night Before Tuesday Morning Rush 'Unforeseen Challenges' Push Metro Yellow Line Repairs Into Night Before Tuesday Morning Rush
'Unforeseen Challenges' Push Metro Yellow Line Repairs Into Night Before Tuesday Morning Rush Tuesday morning could come down to the wire for Metro riders. Crews in Maryland and the DC region were working through Monday night, Sept. 21, to repair tracks damaged by a work vehicle derailment, with Metro hoping to restore full Yellow Line service before the Tuesday morning commute. The derailment disrupted service throughout Monday, limiting Yellow Line trains to the stretch between Huntington and Arlington Cemetery as crews worked on the tracks. Riders traveling beyond Arlington Cemetery were directed to use Blue Line trains to and from L'Enfant Plaza, while shuttle buses were runnin…

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by Zak Failla
Suitland, MD
Breaking News
Bodycam Captures Final Moments Before PG County Officer Fatally Shoots 33-Year-Old Man Bodycam Captures Final Moments Before PG County Officer Fatally Shoots 33-Year-Old Man Bodycam Captures Final Moments Before PG County Officer Fatally Shoots 33-Year-Old Man
Bodycam Captures Final Moments Before PG County Officer Fatally Shoots 33-Year-Old Man Newly released video is providing the first public look at the moments before a Maryland police officer fatally shot a 33-year-old man during a late-night encounter last month. The Maryland Attorney General’s Independent Investigations Division released body-worn and dashboard camera footage on Monday, Sept. 21, from the Aug. 21 shooting of Tawfiq Abdul Haqq in Suitland. Haqq, a Temple Hills resident, was shot shortly after 11:30 p.m. in the 4500 block of Reamy Drive during an encounter with Prince George’s County Police Officer Corbin Davis. The footage released Monday shows multiple offi…

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by Zak Failla
Upper Marlboro, MD
Breaking News
Medical Examiner Reaches Ruling In Upper Marlboro Hanging Death That Drew Community Concern Medical Examiner Reaches Ruling In Upper Marlboro Hanging Death That Drew Community Concern Medical Examiner Reaches Ruling In Upper Marlboro Hanging Death That Drew Community Concern
Medical Examiner Reaches Ruling In Upper Marlboro Hanging Death That Drew Community Concern The death of a man found hanging from a tree in Maryland has been ruled a suicide by the state medical examiner, though police say their investigation remains ongoing. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore notified Prince George’s County Police on Monday, Sept. 21, that the man died by suicide by hanging and had no other signs of trauma to his body, according to the department. The ruling comes one day after officers were called to the 9300 block of D’Arcy Road in the unincorporated Upper Marlboro area, where the man was found hanging outside at approximately 7:55 a.m. on Su…

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by Zak Failla
Annapolis, MD
Breaking News
Kidnapped Dad Brought To Annapolis, Executed Near Middle School As Third Man Found Guilty Kidnapped Dad Brought To Annapolis, Executed Near Middle School As Third Man Found Guilty Kidnapped Dad Brought To Annapolis, Executed Near Middle School As Third Man Found Guilty
Kidnapped Dad Brought To Annapolis, Executed Near Middle School As Third Man Found Guilty A third man has been convicted in the kidnapping and execution-style murder of a Maryland father who was abducted in Baltimore and later found shot to death near an Annapolis middle school. Baltimore resident Marquis Mayo, 37, was found guilty on Monday, Sept. 21, of murder and other offenses following the execution-style killing of 47-year-old David Lewis Winchester Jr. in 2024, according to the Anne Arundel County Police Department. Winchester was found dead on March 28, 2024, in a wooded area near the track and field at Wiley H. Bates Middle School in Annapolis. He had been shot twice in…

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by Zak Failla
Sterling, VA
Breaking News
Bomb Threat Posted On Sterling Muslim Center's Own Instagram Page Leads To Arrest: Sheriff Bomb Threat Posted On Sterling Muslim Center's Own Instagram Page Leads To Arrest: Sheriff Bomb Threat Posted On Sterling Muslim Center's Own Instagram Page Leads To Arrest: Sheriff
Bomb Threat Posted On Sterling Muslim Center's Own Instagram Page Leads To Arrest: Sheriff A threat buried in an Instagram comment got the attention of investigators in Virginia. What followed was a multi-agency investigation, several search warrants and the arrest of a 50-year-old man accused of threatening to bring an explosive device to an event at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office. Investigators were alerted after someone posted the threatening comment on the ADAMS Center's Instagram page, authorities announced on Monday, Sept. 21. The message indicated that someone intended to deliver an explosive device to an event …

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by Zak Failla
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