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

Fredericksburg, VA
Breaking News
Virginia Hockey Family Loses Nearly Everything In Fire While Heading To The Rink Virginia Hockey Family Loses Nearly Everything In Fire While Heading To The Rink Virginia Hockey Family Loses Nearly Everything In Fire While Heading To The Rink
Virginia Hockey Family Loses Nearly Everything In Fire While Heading To The Rink A Virginia hockey family was doing what they do on a Tuesday night — loading up for the rink — when their house caught fire and they were forced to leave nearly everything behind. The fire broke out Tuesday, Feb. 3, at the Kerlavage family’s home in Virginia, displacing Dave and Meghan Kerlavage, their four children, a father-in-law, and two dogs, according to a GoFundMe created to support the family. Dave Kerlavage was on his way to a coach’s meeting and hockey practice when he got the call no homeowner ever wants: there was a fire at the house, and he needed to come home immediately.…

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by Zak Failla
Middleburg, VA
Breaking News
Animals Pulled From ‘Rescue’ As Middleburg Woman Is Convicted In Cruelty Case Animals Pulled From ‘Rescue’ As Middleburg Woman Is Convicted In Cruelty Case Animals Pulled From ‘Rescue’ As Middleburg Woman Is Convicted In Cruelty Case
Animals Pulled From ‘Rescue’ As Middleburg Woman Is Convicted In Cruelty Case Her dogs had to be dug out. Now, she’s the one being taken away. A Virginia woman who kept cats and dogs in squalor inside an unregistered "animal shelter" at her home has been convicted of cruelty offenses following a three-day trial in Loudoun County, authorities announced. Patricia-Mathis Burby, 62, was found guilty by a jury of seven counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty and one count of felony animal cruelty in relation to a cat and several dogs in her care who were found trapped in crates and buried under layers of feces and debris.  The case began on July 25, 2024, when Loudoun Count…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Massive Rock Dam Found Inside Collapsed Sewer Delays Potomac Spill Fix For Weeks Massive Rock Dam Found Inside Collapsed Sewer Delays Potomac Spill Fix For Weeks Massive Rock Dam Found Inside Collapsed Sewer Delays Potomac Spill Fix For Weeks
Massive Rock Dam Found Inside Collapsed Sewer Delays Potomac Spill Fix For Weeks The already messy effort to stop millions of gallons of sewage from pouring into the Potomac River just got a lot harder — and a lot longer — after DC Water discovered a massive underground rock blockage inside the collapsed sewer line. DC Water announced that new CCTV inspections inside the damaged Potomac Interceptor revealed a 30-foot rock dam buried downstream of the original collapse near Clara Barton Parkway and the I-495 interchange. The discovery forced an immediate reset of the repair plan and extended the cleanup timeline by four to six weeks, according to the utility company. …

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by Zak Failla
Hagerstown, MD
Your Community
Gov. Moore Pushes Back On Trump-Era Plan To Turn Hagerstown Warehouse Into ICE Detention Center Gov. Moore Pushes Back On Trump-Era Plan To Turn Hagerstown Warehouse Into ICE Detention Center Gov. Moore Pushes Back On Trump-Era Plan To Turn Hagerstown Warehouse Into ICE Detention Center
Gov. Moore Pushes Back On Trump-Era Plan To Turn Hagerstown Warehouse Into ICE Detention Center Maryland officials are drawing a line. Gov. Wes Moore is formally pushing back against what he says are plans by the Trump Administration to turn a massive warehouse in Washington County into a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility, warning of economic harm, strained local infrastructure, and serious public safety concerns. In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem dated Feb. 6, 2026, Moore said he was alarmed by reports that the federal government had acquired a nearly 54-acre warehouse site in the Hagerstown area to support ICE detention and deporta…

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by Zak Failla
Germantown, MD
Breaking News
Germantown Man Wanted For Child Sex Abuse Nabbed At Dulles While Fleeing Country: CBP Germantown Man Wanted For Child Sex Abuse Nabbed At Dulles While Fleeing Country: CBP Germantown Man Wanted For Child Sex Abuse Nabbed At Dulles While Fleeing Country: CBP
Germantown Man Wanted For Child Sex Abuse Nabbed At Dulles While Fleeing Country: CBP Federal officials are doing a victory lap after snatching a Salvadoran man fleeing from sex abuse charges in Maryland as he was preparing to board a flight at Dulles International Airport. Germantown resident Nelvis Gonzalez Purdencio, 43, was taken into custody by US Customs and Border Protection officers on Sunday before he could board an El Salvador-bound flight. At the time he was planning to flee, officials say that Gonzalez Purdencio was wanted in Montgomery County for sexual abuse of a minor, a third-degree felony. Additionally, Gonzalez Purdencio is the subject of a September …

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Masked Man Appears On Arlington Porch As Part Of Larger Murder Plot, Police Say Masked Man Appears On Arlington Porch As Part Of Larger Murder Plot, Police Say Masked Man Appears On Arlington Porch As Part Of Larger Murder Plot, Police Say
Masked Man Appears On Arlington Porch As Part Of Larger Murder Plot, Police Say It started with a masked man on a Virginia porch. Then things actually took an even stranger turn. Now, months later, a man is behind bars after giving a resident a scare. Arlington County Police have arrested a 26-year-old Maryland man accused of plotting to kill someone in Virginia, then showing up at the person’s home wearing gloves, a mask, and possibly carrying a gun, police announced on Thursday. Officers were called around 3:15 p.m. on Aug. 10, 2025, to the 3800 block of 7th Street S. in Arlington, after a witness reported a suspicious man standing on a porch, police said. The susp…

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by Zak Failla
Woodbridge, VA
Breaking News
Woodbridge Construction Zone Crash Unravels Into DUI With Kids, Indecent Exposure: Police Woodbridge Construction Zone Crash Unravels Into DUI With Kids, Indecent Exposure: Police Woodbridge Construction Zone Crash Unravels Into DUI With Kids, Indecent Exposure: Police
Woodbridge Construction Zone Crash Unravels Into DUI With Kids, Indecent Exposure: Police Gisselly Gonzalez did not go down quietly. Or fully clothed in Virginia. What began as a reckless driving crash through a construction zone in Woodbridge quickly unraveled into a stunning chain of events involving indecent exposure, intoxication, young children in danger, and an assault on a police officer inside a jail, authorities said. Prince William County police were called around 5:25 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 3, to the area of Delaney Road and Kurtz Road to investigate a crash involving a vehicle driving erratically through a construction zone. That seemingly routine call was anything b…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Potomac River Still Loaded With Dangerous Bacteria After Sewage Spill, Riverkeeper Warns Potomac River Still Loaded With Dangerous Bacteria After Sewage Spill, Riverkeeper Warns Potomac River Still Loaded With Dangerous Bacteria After Sewage Spill, Riverkeeper Warns
Potomac River Still Loaded With Dangerous Bacteria After Sewage Spill, Riverkeeper Warns Health concerns along the Potomac River are growing more urgent after new testing found bacteria levels have increased, not improved, weeks after a massive sewage spill tied to a collapsed sewer line near I-495. The Potomac Riverkeeper Network and University of Maryland researchers announced on Feb. 5 that water samples show the river still contains dangerously high levels of fecal bacteria and disease-causing pathogens following the collapse of a 60-year-old sewer pipe that released an estimated 300 million gallons of raw sewage. “Raw sewage from a 60-year-old pipe has vomited roughly 300 …

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by Zak Failla
Waldorf, MD
Breaking News
Teen Firebug Charged After Setting Bathroom Blaze Inside Mattawoman Middle School: Fire Marshal Teen Firebug Charged After Setting Bathroom Blaze Inside Mattawoman Middle School: Fire Marshal Teen Firebug Charged After Setting Bathroom Blaze Inside Mattawoman Middle School: Fire Marshal
Teen Firebug Charged After Setting Bathroom Blaze Inside Mattawoman Middle School: Fire Marshal A teen firebug admitted to sparking a fire inside a Maryland middle school bathroom, sending authorities scrambling on Thursday morning. At around 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 5, members of the Maryland State Fire Marshal were called in to assist the Charles County Sheriff's Office after a reported fire at Mattawoman Middle School in Waldorf.  Investigators conducted an origin and cause examination and determined the fire originated inside a bathroom trash can.  The fire was contained to the bin and did not extend beyond it or cause damage to any structural components of the school, officia…

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by Zak Failla
Waldorf, MD
Breaking News
Waldorf Teen Gunned Down Outside Maryland Home In Targeted Shooting, Police Say Waldorf Teen Gunned Down Outside Maryland Home In Targeted Shooting, Police Say Waldorf Teen Gunned Down Outside Maryland Home In Targeted Shooting, Police Say
Waldorf Teen Gunned Down Outside Maryland Home In Targeted Shooting, Police Say A 19-year-old was gunned down outside a Maryland home Wednesday afternoon, and investigators say the shooting does not appear to have been random. Members of the Prince George’s County Police Department were called at approximately 3:20 p.m. on Feb. 4, to the 500 block of Abel Avenue in Capitol Heights, for reports of a shooting with one person down. Upon arrival, officers found Waldorf resident Ky-Mari Bowman suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, police say. He was rushed to an area hospital, where he later died from his injuries. Detectives are now working to determine a motive behind …

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by Zak Failla
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