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

Leesburg, VA
Breaking News
Pickup Game Gone Wrong? Teen Knocked Unconscious At Ida Lee Rec Center Basketball Game Pickup Game Gone Wrong? Teen Knocked Unconscious At Ida Lee Rec Center Basketball Game Pickup Game Gone Wrong? Teen Knocked Unconscious At Ida Lee Rec Center Basketball Game
Pickup Game Gone Wrong? Teen Knocked Unconscious At Ida Lee Rec Center Basketball Game A pickup basketball game turned violent in Virginia — and now a shaken community is rallying behind a teen athlete left seriously hurt. Here’s what we know. An evening pickup basketball game at a Leesburg rec center was supposed to be just that — casual hoops, nothing more. Instead, it ended with a teenager unconscious, rushed to the hospital, and facing surgery, as neighbors now step up to help his family pick up the pieces. Oliver Brodie was playing basketball at the Ida Lee Park Recreation Center in Leesburg when a grown man became upset during the game and attacked him from behind, acco…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
ICE Arrests Gang-Linked El Salvadoran With Final Deportation Order In Baltimore: Feds ICE Arrests Gang-Linked El Salvadoran With Final Deportation Order In Baltimore: Feds ICE Arrests Gang-Linked El Salvadoran With Final Deportation Order In Baltimore: Feds
ICE Arrests Gang-Linked El Salvadoran With Final Deportation Order In Baltimore: Feds Federal immigration agents arrested a gang-linked El Salvadoran national with a violent criminal history in Baltimore, officials announced. ICE Baltimore officers arrested Leonel Alexander Velasquez-Velasquez, described as a “criminal illegal alien from El Salvador,” the agency said on Monday, Jan. 5. According to ICE, Velasquez-Velasquez was previously convicted of first-degree assault and participation in criminal gang activity. “He has a final order of removal and will remain in ICE custody,” ICE Baltimore said. The arrest was carried out by Enforcement and Removal Operations Baltimore…

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by Zak Failla
Laurel, MD
Breaking News
Wrong-Way DUI Driver Kills Two On I-95 In Laurel; Passengers Airlifted To Hospital: MSP Wrong-Way DUI Driver Kills Two On I-95 In Laurel; Passengers Airlifted To Hospital: MSP Wrong-Way DUI Driver Kills Two On I-95 In Laurel; Passengers Airlifted To Hospital: MSP
Wrong-Way DUI Driver Kills Two On I-95 In Laurel; Passengers Airlifted To Hospital: MSP An impaired driver who caused a fatal wrong-way crash on I-95 that sent two others to the hospital is being held behind bars in Maryland, state police announced. Baltimore City resident Michael Coupet, 34, was arrested and charged following a double-fatal crash that was reported in Howard County early on Sunday morning. At around 2:45 a.m. on Jan. 4, troopers from the Maryland State Police Barrack in Waterloo were called to a southbound stretch of the interstate near Maryland 216 to investigate a reported wrong-way crash. According to police, North Carolina natives Venkata Asha Khanna…

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by Zak Failla
Upper Marlboro, MD
Breaking News
Maryland Man Killed, Multiple Drivers Shot In Brazen Daylong Attack: PG County Police Maryland Man Killed, Multiple Drivers Shot In Brazen Daylong Attack: PG County Police Maryland Man Killed, Multiple Drivers Shot In Brazen Daylong Attack: PG County Police
Maryland Man Killed, Multiple Drivers Shot In Brazen Daylong Attack: PG County Police A person of interest is in custody after a deadly, daylong shooting spree that left one man dead and two others wounded in what police believe were random attacks across Maryland, authorities said. A 65-year-old man was found shot to death inside his vehicle in unincorporated Upper Marlboro on Sunday morning, just hours before a series of additional shootings unfolded nearby, according to the Prince George’s County Police Department. Officers were called to the Watkins Park Plaza area at approximately 7:20 a.m. in Upper Marlboro on Jan. 4, for a report of an unresponsive man, police said. O…

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by Zak Failla
Bel Air, MD
Breaking News
Armed Barricade Standoff Shuts Down Roads Around Bel Air Apartment Complex (DEVELOPING) Armed Barricade Standoff Shuts Down Roads Around Bel Air Apartment Complex (DEVELOPING) Armed Barricade Standoff Shuts Down Roads Around Bel Air Apartment Complex (DEVELOPING)
Armed Barricade Standoff Shuts Down Roads Around Bel Air Apartment Complex (Developing) Deputies are responding to a barricade situation involving a potentially armed man at an apartment complex in Harford County, on Monday afternoon, authorities are cautioning. Deputies were called to investigate a suspicious circumstance at an apartment in the area of Sablewood Road in Bel Air on Monday, Jan. 5, at about 4:25 p.m., according to the Harford County Sheriff’s Office. While deputies were investigating, officials said a resident who may be armed barricaded himself inside the apartment, the sheriff’s office reported. Residents were asked to avoid the area as several roads surroun…

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by Zak Failla
Columbia, MD
Breaking News
Columbia Man Reported Ex Missing, Then Fled Country Before Her Murder Was Discovered: Police Columbia Man Reported Ex Missing, Then Fled Country Before Her Murder Was Discovered: Police Columbia Man Reported Ex Missing, Then Fled Country Before Her Murder Was Discovered: Police
Columbia Man Reported Ex Missing, Then Fled Country Before Her Murder Was Discovered: Police A man who reported his ex-girlfriend missing in Maryland before fleeing the country is facing charges in connection with her murder, authorities announced. Columbia resident Arjun Sharma, 26, is the subject of an international manhunt after making a missing person report on Friday, Jan. 2, in regard to his ex, 27-year-old Nikitha Godishala, whom he claimed he hadn't heard from in days. According to the Howard County Police Department, Sharma claimed he hadn't seen Godishala since Dec. 31 in his apartment in the 10100 block of Twin Rivers Road. Police later learned that on the same…

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by Zak Failla
Temple Hills-Camp Springs, MD
Breaking News
Three Dead In Shootout Outside Temple Hills Banquet Hall, Suspect Caught In Virginia (UPDATED) Three Dead In Shootout Outside Temple Hills Banquet Hall, Suspect Caught In Virginia (UPDATED) Three Dead In Shootout Outside Temple Hills Banquet Hall, Suspect Caught In Virginia (UPDATED)
Three Dead In Shootout Outside Temple Hills Banquet Hall, Suspect Caught In Virginia (Updated) One gunman is in custody in Virginia following a shootout over the weekend outside a Maryland banquet hall that left three men dead, authorities announced on Monday. Antonio Lancaster, 39, of Landover, is behind bars after being connected to the Saturday shooting that ended with Waldorf resident Ronez Proctor, 27, dead alongside District residents Pierre Davis, 33, and Kevon Medley Williams, 26, according to the Prince George's County Police Department. Officers were called to investigate a fatal triple shooting reported around 2:10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 3, in the 4300 block of Saint Barnabas…

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by Zak Failla
Hagerstown, MD
Breaking News
Maryland Explosion: Mailbox Destroyed By Incendiary Device, Fire Marshal Says Maryland Explosion: Mailbox Destroyed By Incendiary Device, Fire Marshal Says Maryland Explosion: Mailbox Destroyed By Incendiary Device, Fire Marshal Says
Maryland Explosion: Mailbox Destroyed By Incendiary Device, Fire Marshal Says An explosion shattered the quiet along a rural Maryland road after someone planted and detonated an incendiary device inside a residential mailbox, investigators said. An explosive device was intentionally placed inside a mailbox on the 13700 block of Gregg Neck Road in Galena, on Saturday, Jan. 4, around 9:30 p.m., according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office. The device detonated inside the mailbox, blowing apart the box and its post, officials said. The blast caused an estimated $80 in damage, but sent shockwaves through the neighborhood. No one was injured, and no residents we…

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by Zak Failla
Bel Air, MD
Breaking News
New Year’s Fire Destroys Home, Leaves Family’s Cats Missing As Neighbors Rally In Pylesville New Year’s Fire Destroys Home, Leaves Family’s Cats Missing As Neighbors Rally In Pylesville New Year’s Fire Destroys Home, Leaves Family’s Cats Missing As Neighbors Rally In Pylesville
New Year’s Fire Destroys Home, Leaves Family’s Cats Missing As Neighbors Rally In Pylesville Neighbors in Maryland are rallying around a beloved woman who has served as a beacon in her community for decades and lost everything to start the year. Patti Stinchcomb, who has been a fixture in Harford County, is reeling after a massive fire destroyed her Pylesville home on New Year's Day, leaving her family without a home to kick off 2026 and leaving her beloved cats missing. The two-alarm house fire broke out inside a two-story home around 3:50 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 1, in the 1700 block of Scott Road, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal. Investigators said an occupant woke t…

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by Zak Failla
Fairfax, VA
On Your Side
‘It Still Doesn’t Feel Real’: Fairfax County Coffee Trailer Destroyed Hours Into New Year ‘It Still Doesn’t Feel Real’: Fairfax County Coffee Trailer Destroyed Hours Into New Year ‘It Still Doesn’t Feel Real’: Fairfax County Coffee Trailer Destroyed Hours Into New Year
‘It Still Doesn’t Feel Real’: Fairfax County Coffee Trailer Destroyed Hours Into New Year The new year got off to a shaky start for a pair of young business owners in Virginia who saw their upstart coffee dream come to a crashing halt in Fairfax County. Hours after celebrating New Year's Day, a county vehicle that wasn't properly secured smashed through the back of Bear and Swan Coffee, totaling the trailer, which has become a staple in the community. "It breaks my heart to share this, and it still doesn’t feel real," the owners shared on Friday, Jan. 2. "This morning, a truck that wasn’t put in brake ran into our trailer, completely totaling it. We are heartbroken."  "…

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by Zak Failla
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