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

Brandywine, MD

Breaking News

Police Pursuit Ends In Major Crain Highway Crash Near Brandywine, Woman Gravely Hurt: AG A police alert out of Virginia set off a chain of events that ended with a woman in grave condition and one of Maryland's busiest highways shut down for hours. The chaos unfolded near the Prince George's-Charles County line on Tuesday, Aug. 25, when Charles County Sheriff's Office deputies attempted to stop a vehicle after receiving information from law enforcement in Arlington, according to new details from the Maryland Attorney General's Office. The driver fled. Deputies gave chase. The crash that followed shut down Crain Highway. The pursuit began at approximately 10:20 a.m. and ended w…

by Zak Failla

08/26/2026

Towson, MD

Your Community

West Coalition Leader Tawanda Jones Faces 'Long, Arduous Recovery' After Medical Emergency For more than a decade, Tawanda Jones has refused to stop showing up in Maryland. Now, the community she has spent years fighting for is showing up for her. Jones, a Baltimore teacher and leader of the West Coalition who became a prominent voice for police accountability following the 2013 death of her brother, Tyrone West, is facing a lengthy recovery after suffering what her family described as a serious medical emergency. Her daughter, Jakiah Harris, said Jones has undergone several significant procedures and is "doing very well," continuing to make encouraging progress. But there is a…

by Zak Failla

08/26/2026

Alexandria, VA

Breaking News

$324K Drone Delivery Packed With Meth, Phones Intercepted At Virginia Prison: Vdoc Someone tried to airlift one expensive care package into a Virginia prison. Corrections officers at Sussex I State Prison discovered a suspicious package around 1:30 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 24, after an attempted drone incursion, according to the Virginia Department of Corrections. Its estimated value behind bars: $324,000. And whoever packed it apparently wasn't traveling light. Inside was a one-pound bag of suspected methamphetamine, along with 17 cellphones and their charging cables, three USB Wi-Fi adapters and two SIM cards, VADOC officials said. There was more. Corrections officers a…

by Zak Failla

08/26/2026

Arlington, VA

Obituaries

‘Forever My Daughter’: Dad Mourns Arlington Teen Serene Tayari After Drowning Accident A Saturday night along the Potomac became every Virginia parent's nightmare. Serene Tayari, a 15-year-old from Arlington, died after slipping into the river near the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Washington, DC, on Saturday, Aug. 22, according to reports. Tayari had been sitting on a ledge overlooking the Potomac when she slipped and fell into the water, WUSA9 reported. Someone nearby saw what happened and tried to pull her out, but failed. She was later found by members of the Metropolitan Police Department's Harbor Unit. Tayari was rushed to an area hospital, but could not be saved. "On S…

by Zak Failla

08/26/2026

Waldorf, MD

Breaking News

Port Tobacco Woman Allegedly Sets Item On Fire, Winds Up Hospitalized Before Arson Arrest Playing with fire landed a Maryland woman in the hospital, and weeks later, behind bars, investigators say. Shortly before 2 a.m. on Monday, July 27, firefighters were called to a home in the 8400 block of Wooddy Road in Port Tobacco, where a fire had broken out inside the residence, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal. What investigators say they found wasn't an accident. Deputy State Fire Marshals determined that Jennifer Mary Owen, 59, intentionally set fire to a personal item inside the home, officials said. The flames damaged the flooring before they were extinguished. Owen…

by Zak Failla

08/26/2026

Bristow, VA

Breaking News

Pet Store Creep Photographs Worker, Puts On Obscene Show At Miss Kibbles In Bristow: Police There are bad customers, there are creepy customers, and then there's the guy Virginia police say walked into a pet store and put on an obscene show. A suspect person is wanted in Prince William County after a lewd incident at Miss Kibbles in Bristow, during which he put on "an obscene sexual display," police said. Officers from the Prince William County Police Department were called shortly after 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 20 to the store in the 10300 block of Bristow Center Drive to investigate the reported incident. Investigators say the unknown man walked into the store, began taking …

by Zak Failla

08/26/2026

Towson, MD

Breaking News

Father Charged After Infant Son Is Left In Hot Car, Dies In Baltimore: Police A summer afternoon in Maryland turned deadly for a 1-year-old boy left alone inside his family's car. Now, more than a month later, his father is facing a manslaughter charge. Baltimore Police announced on Wednesday, Aug. 26, that 32-year-old Yaakov Reichman has been charged in connection with the death of David Reichman, who investigators say died from heat exposure after being left unattended inside the vehicle. The case dates back to the afternoon of Thursday, July 16. At approximately 1:40 p.m., officers were called to the 6200 block of Greenspring Avenue in Northwest Baltimore, where…

by Zak Failla

08/26/2026

Arlington, VA

Breaking News

DC Carjacker Jumps From Moving Car During Wild Maryland Police Chase, Gets Prison Time Dartanian Owens wasn't ready to give up the car. The 22-year-old DC man who terrorized early-morning commuters during an armed carjacking and robbery spree later led police on a wild chase through Maryland and the District, jumped from the stolen vehicle while it was still moving, and tried hiding behind homes before officers finally caught him. Now he's going to prison for more than 13 years. Owens was sentenced on Monday, Aug. 24, to 162 months behind bars following a three-day crime spree that began with a DoorDash driver and ended after a high-speed pursuit through Prince George's Coun…

by Zak Failla

08/26/2026

Arlington, VA

Breaking News

Man Hauls Guillotine 2,300 Miles To DC In Pickup Truck, Arrested Near US Capitol: Police Somewhere between California and the nation's capital, no one told Philan-Tam-Duy Le to leave his guillotine at home. Le, 35, made it thousands of miles from his Julian home in California with the strange weapon safely stationed in the bed of his pickup truck, but a poor parking job ultimately landed him behind bars on Tuesday, Aug. 25. After driving across the country with the medieval execution device towering over the bed of his pickup truck, Le made a pit stop in the 100 block of East Capitol Street in DC, where he made a critical error. He parked illegally. US Capitol Police…

by Zak Failla

08/25/2026

Arlington, VA

Your Community

ICE Touted 1,300+ Arrests Across The Region; Elected Officials Says Numbers Tell Another Story Maryland isn't buying the federal government's sales pitch for its latest immigration crackdown. Gov. Wes Moore fired back at the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday, Aug. 25, after federal officials touted more than 1,300 arrests during a sweeping two-week ICE operation across Maryland and Virginia. Moore's issue isn't with taking violent offenders off the streets. It's who else is getting swept up. DHS officials have recently conducted mass deportation operations in Maryland without notifying state officials.Deploying untrained, unqualified, and unaccountable agents to swe…

by Zak Failla

08/25/2026

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