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

Silver Spring, MD
Breaking News
More Victims Feared After Alleged Sexual Assault At Silver Spring Training Academy: Police More Victims Feared After Alleged Sexual Assault At Silver Spring Training Academy: Police More Victims Feared After Alleged Sexual Assault At Silver Spring Training Academy: Police
More Victims Feared After Alleged Sexual Assault At Silver Spring Training Academy: Police A 58-year-old man has surrendered to police in Maryland more than a month after an alleged sexual assault at a CPR and first aid training center, police say. Now, detectives are worried there may be more victims. Silver Spring resident Melesse Semegne turned himself in at the Montgomery County Department of Police following an investigation into an alleged rape involving a woman last month. The investigation was launched on Wednesday, May 6, when officers were called to a Silver Spring home, where a woman reported she had been sexually assaulted the previous day. According to the wom…

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by Zak Failla
Fredericksburg, VA
Breaking News
Fredericksburg LEGO Theft Suspect Runs Across I-95, Ends Up In Jaws Of Police Dog After Chase Fredericksburg LEGO Theft Suspect Runs Across I-95, Ends Up In Jaws Of Police Dog After Chase Fredericksburg LEGO Theft Suspect Runs Across I-95, Ends Up In Jaws Of Police Dog After Chase
Fredericksburg Lego Theft Suspect Runs Across I-95, Ends Up In Jaws Of Police Dog After Chase A stolen stack of LEGO sets sparked a wild I-95 chase that ended with a suspect running through traffic, bolting into the woods, and getting hauled out by a police dog, according to police in Virginia. Richmond resident Stephon Davis, 29, and Mechanicsville resident Jayden Ballard, 21, led multiple police agencies on a wild chase following a botched robbery in Fredericksburg. According to the Fredericksburg Police Department, officers were called to the Target on Carl D. Silver Parkway, where a caller told dispatchers that suspects were leaving the store in a U-Haul. Officers got ther…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Woman Killed In DC, Suspect Fatally Shot By Police After Boarding Metrobus (UPDATED) Woman Killed In DC, Suspect Fatally Shot By Police After Boarding Metrobus (UPDATED) Woman Killed In DC, Suspect Fatally Shot By Police After Boarding Metrobus (UPDATED)
Woman Killed In DC, Suspect Fatally Shot By Police After Boarding Metrobus (Updated) A man accused of killing a woman in Northwest DC climbed aboard a Metrobus Tuesday morning, but the ride didn't get far. Minutes after police found 44-year-old Melissa Wallace-Pulliam fatally shot on Wisconsin Avenue NW, officers tracked down the suspect and stopped the bus near Upton Street, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. What happened next ended with a second death. Police say officers confronted 44-year-old Shawn Dewayne Williams after he boarded the bus following the shooting. During that encounter, Williams allegedly pulled a handgun. Officers opened fire, striking…

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by Zak Failla
Chevy Chase, MD
Breaking News
$750K Chevy Chase House Fire Leaves Home Gutted After Flames Race Through While Family Slept $750K Chevy Chase House Fire Leaves Home Gutted After Flames Race Through While Family Slept $750K Chevy Chase House Fire Leaves Home Gutted After Flames Race Through While Family Slept
$750K Chevy Chase House Fire Leaves Home Gutted After Flames Race Through While Family Slept Three residents were asleep inside a Maryland home when a fire began climbing from a rear deck into the upper floors of the house late Tuesday night. They got out before anyone was hurt. The blaze broke out at a home in the 4600 block of Drummond Avenue in Chevy Chase, where Montgomery County firefighters arrived to find flames tearing through the rear deck and exterior siding of the two-story residence. By that point, the fire had already spread upward. According to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue officials, the blaze traveled from the rear deck into the upper levels of the home throug…

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by Zak Failla
Fallston, MD
Breaking News
Mom Grabs Infant, Shuts Door As Flames Tear Through Kingsville Home's Garage: Fire Marshal Mom Grabs Infant, Shuts Door As Flames Tear Through Kingsville Home's Garage: Fire Marshal Mom Grabs Infant, Shuts Door As Flames Tear Through Kingsville Home's Garage: Fire Marshal
Mom Grabs Infant, Shuts Door As Flames Tear Through Kingsville Home's Garage: Fire Marshal A Maryland mother saved her infant, and possibly her home, after a fire broke out on Tuesday morning, officials say. Shortly after 8 a.m. on June 16, a mother heard a smoke alarm and went looking for the source inside her Kingsville home. Then she found flames ripping through her attached garage. Then came a decision that investigators say may have saved the rest of the home. The woman grabbed her infant son, shut the door between the garage and the rest of the residence, and escaped before calling 911, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office. The fire drew firefig…

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by Zak Failla
Arbutus-Halethorpe, MD
Breaking News
Girls Forced To Carve Words Into Their Bodies, Write In Blood For Halethorpe Predator Girls Forced To Carve Words Into Their Bodies, Write In Blood For Halethorpe Predator Girls Forced To Carve Words Into Their Bodies, Write In Blood For Halethorpe Predator
Girls Forced To Carve Words Into Their Bodies, Write In Blood For Halethorpe Predator A Maryland man tied to a violent extremist network is heading to prison after admitting to sexually exploiting multiple underage victims in a disturbing online scheme that spanned the globe. Halethorpe native Erik Lee Madison, 21, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to sexually exploiting, cyberstalking, and preying on nearly a dozen young girls, according to federal authorities. Madison used the internet between November 2024 and November 2025 to manipulate and control vulnerable teens, forcing them into acts of abuse, self-harm, and humiliation as p…

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by Zak Failla
Great Falls, VA
Breaking News
Towson Student Nazir Bell Found Dead In Potomac River After Multi-Day Search In MoCo Towson Student Nazir Bell Found Dead In Potomac River After Multi-Day Search In MoCo Towson Student Nazir Bell Found Dead In Potomac River After Multi-Day Search In MoCo
Towson Student Nazir Bell Found Dead In Potomac River After Multi-Day Search In MoCo The search for Nazir Bell ended in tragedy Tuesday afternoon in Maryland. Search crews recovered the body of the 20-year-old swimmer from the Potomac River on Tuesday, June 16, bringing a heartbreaking end to a multi-day operation near Great Falls, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson Pete Piringer announced. Bell had been missing since Sunday night, when he was reported in distress in the water near Billy Goat Trail A, across from Sandy Landing. The search began shortly after 6:15 p.m. on June 14 and quickly grew into a massive response involving crews on both sides of t…

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by Zak Failla
Potomac, MD
Your Community
'Peckers' Finds A Perch: Maryland Firefighters, 6-Year-Old Help Rescue Lost Bird In Potomac 'Peckers' Finds A Perch: Maryland Firefighters, 6-Year-Old Help Rescue Lost Bird In Potomac 'Peckers' Finds A Perch: Maryland Firefighters, 6-Year-Old Help Rescue Lost Bird In Potomac
'Peckers' Finds A Perch: Maryland Firefighters, 6-Year-Old Help Rescue Lost Bird In Potomac Not every call in Maryland ends with flashing lights and sirens. Sometimes, it ends with a tiny green bird named "Peckers." Firefighters in Potomac got an unusual request on Monday when a resident reported a colorful bird perched high in a tree that appeared to belong to someone. Members of Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Engine 733 responded and quickly realized this wasn't your average backyard visitor. The bright-green parakeet seemed comfortable around people, leading crews to believe it was likely somebody's pet. So they got creative. Armed with birdseed and a little patience, fir…

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by Zak Failla
Waldorf, MD
Breaking News
Waldorf Man Ran Alabama-To-Maryland Gun Pipeline With Machineguns, Feds Say Waldorf Man Ran Alabama-To-Maryland Gun Pipeline With Machineguns, Feds Say Waldorf Man Ran Alabama-To-Maryland Gun Pipeline With Machineguns, Feds Say
Waldorf Man Ran Alabama-To-Maryland Gun Pipeline With Machineguns, Feds Say Federal agents say Lester Ramos Perez wasn't bringing furniture with him when he relocated from Alabama to Maryland. A firearms pipeline stretching from the Deep South into Maryland has landed a Guatemalan national living in Waldorf behind bars after investigators say he trafficked stolen guns and machine gun-converted weapons into the state, federal authorities announced. Ramos Perez, 29, has now been sentenced to 78 months in prison for his role in the weapons trafficking conspiracy and for possessing a firearm as a prohibited person due to his citizenship status. Investigators first sta…

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by Zak Failla
Frederick, MD
On Your Side
Nearly $70K Raised After Storm Displaces 28 Horses, Cats At Frederick's By Chance Farm Nearly $70K Raised After Storm Displaces 28 Horses, Cats At Frederick's By Chance Farm Nearly $70K Raised After Storm Displaces 28 Horses, Cats At Frederick's By Chance Farm
Nearly $70K Raised After Storm Displaces 28 Horses, Cats At Frederick's By Chance Farm Twenty-eight horses and several barn cats are in temporary homes after severe storms ripped through By Chance Farm, leaving owner Michele Wellman scrambling to save the business she has spent more than two decades building. The storm hit Sunday night, June 14, causing extensive damage at the farm in Libertytown. "Last night, my worst nightmare happened," Wellman wrote on Facebook. "Either straight line winds or a possible tornado destroyed my barn." By the next morning, the work had already begun. Volunteers spent hours clearing debris, repairing fencing, salvaging supplies, and helping m…

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by Zak Failla
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