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

Gaithersburg, MD
Breaking News
MoCo Councilman Back Home After Heart Attack With Warning: 'Don't Ignore The Signs' MoCo Councilman Back Home After Heart Attack With Warning: 'Don't Ignore The Signs' MoCo Councilman Back Home After Heart Attack With Warning: 'Don't Ignore The Signs'
MoCo Councilman Back Home After Heart Attack With Warning: 'Don't Ignore The Signs' Will Jawando is back home in Maryland with a message for anyone who thinks a heart attack can't happen to them. The Montgomery County Councilmember and Democratic nominee for county executive returned home after suffering a heart attack during a pickup basketball game on Saturday, Sept. 5, and released his first message since leaving George Washington University Hospital on Thursday. "Now that I'm home, I just wanted to reach out quickly and say thank you," Jawando said. He thanked supporters for the prayers, cards, flowers and texts sent to him and his family during the health scare, as …

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by Zak Failla
Sterling, VA
Breaking News
Maryland Man Robbed Same Loudoun Smoke Shop Twice In Days: 'Content Living Outside The Law' Maryland Man Robbed Same Loudoun Smoke Shop Twice In Days: 'Content Living Outside The Law' Maryland Man Robbed Same Loudoun Smoke Shop Twice In Days: 'Content Living Outside The Law'
Maryland Man Robbed Same Loudoun Smoke Shop Twice In Days: 'Content Living Outside The Law' A Baltimore man who crossed state lines twice in less than a week to rob the same smoke shop in Northern Virginia is heading to prison. James Allen Shore, 33, who prosecutors say has a lengthy criminal history, was given the max sentence following a pair of armed robberies, the Loudoun County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office announced on Thursday. Shore's crime spree began on March 14, 2025, when he traveled from Baltimore to a tobacco outlet on the border of Loudoun County and Maryland. Around 4 a.m. that morning, while wearing a mask, prosecutors say he took out a firearm, threatened two…

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by Zak Failla
North East, MD
Breaking News
Mom's Boyfriend Convicted After Leading Cops To 3-Year-Old Girl Hidden In North East Suitcase Mom's Boyfriend Convicted After Leading Cops To 3-Year-Old Girl Hidden In North East Suitcase Mom's Boyfriend Convicted After Leading Cops To 3-Year-Old Girl Hidden In North East Suitcase
Mom's Boyfriend Convicted After Leading Cops To 3-Year-Old Girl Hidden In North East Suitcase A Maryland man has been convicted for his role after his girlfriend murdered her 3-year-old daughter, and the girl's body was hidden in a suitcase inside a garbage pail. Cedrick Antoine Britten was found guilty following an 11-day trial stemming from the murder of Nola Dinkins by his girlfriend, Darrian Lynnelle Randle, in his North East home, the Cecil County State's Attorney's Office announced on Thursday. According to investigators, Randle initially sparked an AMBER Alert on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, when she falsely claimed that a man with a gun had kidnapped her daughter in Delaware. Th…

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by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
Breaking News
Stolen Identities Were Used To Move Nearly $300K In Goods Through Virginia, CBP Says Stolen Identities Were Used To Move Nearly $300K In Goods Through Virginia, CBP Says Stolen Identities Were Used To Move Nearly $300K In Goods Through Virginia, CBP Says
Stolen Identities Were Used To Move Nearly $300K In Goods Through Virginia, CBP Says Someone apparently needed a whole lot of cooling off. More than 1,000 automotive radiators and hundreds of industrial-strength dehumidifiers were seized in Norfolk, Virginia, after federal officers say they discovered the shipments had been imported from China using stolen identities. The unusual haul included 1,043 automotive radiators and 420 high-capacity, 70-pint dehumidifiers, according to US Customs and Border Protection. Combined value: nearly $292,000. CBP officers first inspected the two shipments after they arrived in Norfolk in mid-August and quickly spotted discrepancies in th…

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by Zak Failla
Sterling, VA
Breaking News
Firebug Who Intentionally Set Massive Blaze That Killed Sterling Woman Convicted On All Counts Firebug Who Intentionally Set Massive Blaze That Killed Sterling Woman Convicted On All Counts Firebug Who Intentionally Set Massive Blaze That Killed Sterling Woman Convicted On All Counts
Firebug Who Intentionally Set Massive Blaze That Killed Sterling Woman Convicted On All Counts Jacob Bogatin may spend the rest of his life in prison after being convicted of intentionally setting a massive fire in Virginia that killed a 36-year-old woman last year. Jacob Bogatin, 78, was convicted following a three-week jury trial of all counts, including first-degree felony murder, after sparking the October 2025 fire that killed Madelaine Akers on Riptide Square, according to the Loudoun County Commonwealth's Attorney. Loudoun County Fire and Rescue officials said the flames spread rapidly, causing “multiple structural collapses” that prevented crews from entering the building. T…

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by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
Breaking News
Woman Wanted In Double Murder Of VDOT Workers Captured In North Carolina After Weeks On Run Woman Wanted In Double Murder Of VDOT Workers Captured In North Carolina After Weeks On Run Woman Wanted In Double Murder Of VDOT Workers Captured In North Carolina After Weeks On Run
Woman Wanted In Double Murder Of VDOT Workers Captured In North Carolina After Weeks On Run The woman wanted in connection with the murders of two VDOT contract workers has reportedly been arrested in North Carolina after disappearing from Virginia. Investigators have been searching for Dennikia Rachelle Boyce, 37, since the fatal shootings on Friday, July 24 at a Virginia Department of Transportation staging area near Route 1 and Route 288 in Chesterfield County. Boyce was taken into custody on Thursday, Sept. 10, and faces two counts of second-degree murder in Virginia and a federal flight to avoid prosecution charge, according to officials. State police identified th…

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by Zak Failla
Triangle-Dumfries, VA
Breaking News
Neighbors Evacuated After Dumfries Man Beats Elderly Relative With Bat: Police Neighbors Evacuated After Dumfries Man Beats Elderly Relative With Bat: Police Neighbors Evacuated After Dumfries Man Beats Elderly Relative With Bat: Police
Neighbors Evacuated After Dumfries Man Beats Elderly Relative With Bat: Police Houses had to be evacuated, and an elderly man was beaten by a family member who barricaded himself in a Northern Virginia home, officials say. Shortly after 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 9, officers from the Prince William County Police Department were called to a home in the 4300 block of Mulcaster Terrace in Dumfries, where a 69-year-old man was struck with a baseball bat. The attacker was later identified as 35-year-old Dumfries resident Cody Christian Lance, who proceeded to lock himself inside a room in the home, investigators said. The victim and another family member managed to ge…

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by Zak Failla
Gaithersburg, MD
Breaking News
Man Gunned Down In Montgomery County Neighborhood With Killer Still At Large: Police Man Gunned Down In Montgomery County Neighborhood With Killer Still At Large: Police Man Gunned Down In Montgomery County Neighborhood With Killer Still At Large: Police
Man Gunned Down In Montgomery County Neighborhood With Killer Still At Large: Police Gunfire turned deadly in Maryland on Wednesday afternoon. Montgomery County Police and firefighters were called to the 1700 block of January Drive in Silver Spring at approximately 2:05 p.m. on Sept. 10, where an adult man had been shot, officials said. Police initially reported that the victim's condition was unclear and that no suspect was in custody. Minutes later came the grim update. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police. Investigators from the department's Major Crimes Division have been notified and are responding to investigate the fatal shooting. Police …

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by Zak Failla
Parkville-Carney, MD
Your Community
Parkville Cancels 21-Gun Salute On Eve Of 25th Anniversary Of 9/11 Parkville Cancels 21-Gun Salute On Eve Of 25th Anniversary Of 9/11 Parkville Cancels 21-Gun Salute On Eve Of 25th Anniversary Of 9/11
Parkville Cancels 21-Gun Salute On Eve Of 25th Anniversary Of 9/11 A planned 21-gun salute won't be part of one Maryland community's remembrance of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks after all. Baltimore County Police announced on Thursday, Sept. 10, that the salute scheduled for Friday evening in Parkville has been canceled, though the rest of the community's events marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11 will continue as planned. No reason for the cancellation was provided. The Presidential Salute Battery from the 3rd US Infantry Regiment, known as The Old Guard, had been scheduled to perform the salute following the 16th Annual 9/11 Candlelight Vigil at McAvo…

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by Zak Failla
Silver Spring, MD
Breaking News
Silver Spring Man Sprints Between School Bus, Sedan Before Fatal Tesla Strike In DC: MPD Silver Spring Man Sprints Between School Bus, Sedan Before Fatal Tesla Strike In DC: MPD Silver Spring Man Sprints Between School Bus, Sedan Before Fatal Tesla Strike In DC: MPD
Silver Spring Man Sprints Between School Bus, Sedan Before Fatal Tesla Strike In DC: MPD A split-second dash through traffic turned deadly for a Maryland man. Bernard Massey, 56, of Silver Spring, died on Tuesday, Sept. 8, five days after he was struck by a Tesla on Georgia Avenue in Northwest DC, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. The crash happened shortly after 4 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 3, in the 7700 block of Georgia Avenue NW. What happened next was anything but a routine pedestrian crash. Investigators say Massey had been standing on the east sidewalk before suddenly running into the roadway midblock, outside a crosswalk. He didn't have a clear path acros…

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by Zak Failla
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