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

Haymarket, VA
Breaking News
Teen Dies Two Days After Honda Hits Tree, Rolls, Slams Into Second Tree In Haymarket: Police Teen Dies Two Days After Honda Hits Tree, Rolls, Slams Into Second Tree In Haymarket: Police Teen Dies Two Days After Honda Hits Tree, Rolls, Slams Into Second Tree In Haymarket: Police
Teen Dies Two Days After Honda Hits Tree, Rolls, Slams Into Second Tree In Haymarket: Police An 18-year-old Virginia driver died two days after police say he sped through a stop sign, struck two trees, and rolled his car in a crash that ended up being fatal. Haymarket resident Tyler Paul Graybill has been identified by the Prince William County Police Department as the driver of a 2022 Honda Civic that crashed at a busy intersection not far from his home. According to investigators, shortly before 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 27, officers were called to the intersection of Waverly Farm Drive and Dominion Valley Drive, where there was a reported single-vehicle crash. Police say Gray…

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by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
Obituaries
'Virginia Lost A Legend': Commonwealth's Longest-Serving Sheriff Dies At 73 'Virginia Lost A Legend': Commonwealth's Longest-Serving Sheriff Dies At 73 'Virginia Lost A Legend': Commonwealth's Longest-Serving Sheriff Dies At 73
'Virginia Lost A Legend': Commonwealth's Longest-Serving Sheriff Dies At 73 For generations of Virginians, there was only one Sheriff Steve Draper. Draper, the longtime Martinsville lawman whose 32 years in office made him the longest-serving active sheriff in the Commonwealth, died on Saturday, Aug. 29.  He was 73. His death ended a remarkable run in public service that stretched back more than half a century. Draper first joined the Martinsville Sheriff's Office in 1973, working as a correctional officer, court bailiff and civil process and transportation officer before eventually making his way to the top. He was elected sheriff in 1993 and took office on Jan…

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by Zak Failla
Silver Spring, MD
Obituaries
She Thought She'd Call Dad Back Later: 'Mo County Legend' Killed In Maryland Crash She Thought She'd Call Dad Back Later: 'Mo County Legend' Killed In Maryland Crash She Thought She'd Call Dad Back Later: 'Mo County Legend' Killed In Maryland Crash
She Thought She'd Call Dad Back Later: 'Mo County Legend' Killed In Maryland Crash Craig Budd Sr. was the guy people called when they needed him. Then his loved ones' lives were turned upside down. Budd was struck and killed in Maryland on Friday night, Aug. 28, just a short time after the call his daughter intended to return once she got settled. “I missed your call, thinking I would get to call you back once I got settled,” ShaVonté wrote in an emotional tribute. “But I never imagined that the ‘later’ would be stolen from me just a short while later.” The crash was reported at approximately 8:10 p.m. near North Frederick Avenue and Professional Drive in Gaithersbur…

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by Zak Failla
Silver Spring, MD
Breaking News
Hazards On, Pants Down: Silver Spring Driver Busted During Roadside Bathroom Break Hazards On, Pants Down: Silver Spring Driver Busted During Roadside Bathroom Break Hazards On, Pants Down: Silver Spring Driver Busted During Roadside Bathroom Break
Hazards On, Pants Down: Silver Spring Driver Busted During Roadside Bathroom Break When nature called, one Maryland driver apparently decided the side of his own car was close enough. It wasn't. A routine drive through Calvert County took a decidedly NSFW turn when a sheriff's deputy spotted a vehicle stopped in the left-turn lane near HG Trueman Road and Town Square Drive in Lusby. The hazards were on. Then the pants came down. According to the Calvert County Sheriff's Office, the deputy was driving through the area when he noticed the stopped vehicle and watched as the driver, later identified as 59-year-old Silver Spring resident Simon Haileselassie Tehre, stepped o…

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by Zak Failla
Mount Airy-Woodbine, MD
Breaking News
What Deputies Learned Online Led To 11 Child Porn Charges Against Maryland Man: Sheriff What Deputies Learned Online Led To 11 Child Porn Charges Against Maryland Man: Sheriff What Deputies Learned Online Led To 11 Child Porn Charges Against Maryland Man: Sheriff
What Deputies Learned Online Led To 11 Child Porn Charges Against Maryland Man: Sheriff The online activity caught investigators' attention first. A Maryland man is now facing 11 child pornography charges after investigators seized numerous electronic devices and storage media during a monthlong investigation, according to the Frederick County Sheriff's Office. The case began on Wednesday, July 29, when deputies were called to the 11700 block of Old National Pike in New Market after receiving information about suspected criminal activity online. There, deputies made contact with Barry Strong, 66, of Mount Airy. Detectives took it from there. Two days later, on Friday, July …

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by Zak Failla
Annapolis, MD
Breaking News
7 Killed In 4 Crashes Across Maryland During Deadly 35-Hour Stretch: State Police 7 Killed In 4 Crashes Across Maryland During Deadly 35-Hour Stretch: State Police 7 Killed In 4 Crashes Across Maryland During Deadly 35-Hour Stretch: State Police
7 Killed In 4 Crashes Across Maryland During Deadly 35-Hour Stretch: State Police Maryland roads turned deadly again and again over the weekend. Seven people were killed in four separate crashes between early Saturday, Aug. 29, and Sunday afternoon, including a mother and daughter from Virginia and three people who died in the weekend's final wreck, according to Maryland State Police. The crashes stretched across Carroll, Montgomery, Harford and Allegany counties, with three unfolding in less than 24 hours. The first came shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday. Garrett Reid Luber, 21, of Hampstead, was heading north on Maryland Route 91 in Carroll County when his Volkswagen Jet…

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by Zak Failla
Bowie, MD
Breaking News
Smoke Billows Over I-95 As Vehicle Fire Blocks Lanes In Prince George's County (DEVELOPING) Smoke Billows Over I-95 As Vehicle Fire Blocks Lanes In Prince George's County (DEVELOPING) Smoke Billows Over I-95 As Vehicle Fire Blocks Lanes In Prince George's County (DEVELOPING)
Smoke Billows Over I-95 As Vehicle Fire Blocks Lanes In Prince George's County (Developing) A smoky situation brought traffic to a crawl on one of Maryland's busiest highways late Monday morning. Firefighters were called to the Inner Loop of I-95/495 at Cherrywood Lane in Prince George's County shortly before 11 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 31, where a vehicle caught fire near mile marker 23.5, according to Maryland transportation officials. The fire could be seen from an MDOT traffic camera, with smoke billowing from the shoulder as crews worked alongside the highway. The response quickly began squeezing traffic. Two of the Inner Loop's four travel lanes were closed, along with one of …

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by Zak Failla
Annapolis, MD
Breaking News
'Way Out Of Your League': Wes Moore Tears Into Laura Loomer After Racist Tirade 'Way Out Of Your League': Wes Moore Tears Into Laura Loomer After Racist Tirade 'Way Out Of Your League': Wes Moore Tears Into Laura Loomer After Racist Tirade
'Way Out Of Your League': Wes Moore Tears Into Laura Loomer After Racist Tirade Wes Moore just told Laura Loomer to pick on someone her own size. The Maryland governor unloaded on the right-wing talking head on Monday, after she spent much of the weekend hurling racist and sexist insults at Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon and other prominent Black women, then repeatedly doubled down when the backlash came. Moore had apparently seen enough. "Laura Loomer, you traffic in low level insults, cruelty, and ugliness," the governor wrote in a blistering post on X. .@LauraLoomer - you traffic in low level insults, cruelty, and ugliness.You attack and insult Black women bec…

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by Zak Failla
Bridgeport, CT
Your Community
Taylor Swift Drops $50K Surprise On Connecticut Mom Who Nearly Died Saving Teen On I-95 Taylor Swift Drops $50K Surprise On Connecticut Mom Who Nearly Died Saving Teen On I-95 Taylor Swift Drops $50K Surprise On Connecticut Mom Who Nearly Died Saving Teen On I-95
Taylor Swift Drops $50K Surprise On Connecticut Mom Who Nearly Died Saving Teen On I-95 Ashley Taunton isn't out of the woods yet, but Taylor Swift is helping her get there. The 42-year-old Connecticut mother who suffered critical injuries while assisting a group of teenagers on I-95 got an unexpected assist from a certain 36-year-old singer. You may have heard of her. Taylor Swift donated $50,000 to the GoFundMe campaign for Ashley Taunton, whose recovery from a July crash has gone viral. PEOPLE confirmed on Friday that the pop star had contributed to the fund, which has since jumped to more than $87,000 since it was created in July. Taylor Swift made a big donation…

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by Zak Failla
Woodbridge, VA
Breaking News
Family Feud Turns Fatal As Woodbridge Man Is Stabbed To Death, Relative Charged: Police Family Feud Turns Fatal As Woodbridge Man Is Stabbed To Death, Relative Charged: Police Family Feud Turns Fatal As Woodbridge Man Is Stabbed To Death, Relative Charged: Police
Family Feud Turns Fatal As Woodbridge Man Is Stabbed To Death, Relative Charged: Police One man is dead, and a family member is behind bars after a domestic dispute turned deadly in Northern Virginia. Ryheim Darnel Harrington, 25, is being held without bond following an investigation into an early Sunday morning stabbing that ended with Maliek Raykwon Harrington, 27, dead, according to the Prince William County Police Department. Both men are from Woodbridge. Officers were called shortly before 6:15 a.m. on Aug. 30 to a home in the 4600 block of Whitaker Place in Woodbridge where there were reports of a domestic dispute involving a stabbing. Upon arrival, officers found…

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by Zak Failla
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