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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

Police & Fire
Fire Tears Through Fairfax County Home As Crews Work To Knock Down Flames: Officials Fire Tears Through Fairfax County Home As Crews Work To Knock Down Flames: Officials
Fire Tears Through Fairfax County Home As Crews Work To Knock Down Flames: Officials Virginia firefighters arrived to find flames already tearing through a home before sunrise on Sunday morning, but everyone made it out safely, officials confirmed. The fire broke out just after 1:15 a.m. on Sunday, June 28, at a single-family home in the 8900 block of Jandell Road in Fairfax County. When crews arrived, they found heavy fire showing from the house and quickly launched an aggressive attack, according to the agency. The flames were quickly knocked down, preventing it from spreading further. No injuries were reported. Officials have not said what sparked the fire or whether t…

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by Zak Failla
Traffic
Crash Shuts Down Three Lanes On I-495 Inner Loop (DEVELOPING) Crash Shuts Down Three Lanes On I-495 Inner Loop (DEVELOPING)
Crash Shuts Down Three Lanes On I-495 Inner Loop (Developing) A crash has shut down three travel lanes on the Inner Loop of I-495 in Maryland on Sunday afternoon, June 28, snarling traffic through Montgomery County as emergency crews respond. The collision was reported shortly before 3 p.m. just past Exit 33 for MD 185 (Connecticut Avenue). According to the Maryland Department of Transportation, three of the four Inner Loop travel lanes are closed, along with one of the two shoulders, while responders remain on the scene. The Outer Loop remains fully open. Traffic camera footage from the area shows heavy congestion stretching well back from the cras…

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by Zak Failla
Politics
'What A Loser': Biden Unloads On Trump During Fiery Speech To Maryland Democrats 'What A Loser': Biden Unloads On Trump During Fiery Speech To Maryland Democrats
'What A Loser': Biden Unloads On Trump During Fiery Speech To Maryland Democrats Joe Biden came out swinging in Maryland. The former president delivered one of his sharpest public attacks yet on President Donald Trump while speaking Saturday night, June 27, to hundreds of Democrats gathered at Maryland Live! Casino & Hotel in Hanover for the Maryland Democratic Party's inaugural Fight Back & Win Gala. The event came just days after Maryland's primary elections and served as a rallying cry ahead of the November midterms. "My fellow Democrats. I suspect many of you have come here tonight seeking some hopeful news in this indelibly dark time in our country," he sa…

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by Zak Failla
News
Two Found Dead During Maryland Welfare Check With Running Vehicle Found In Garage (DEVELOPING) Two Found Dead During Maryland Welfare Check With Running Vehicle Found In Garage (DEVELOPING)
Two Found Dead During Maryland Welfare Check With Running Vehicle Found In Garage (Developing) What began as a welfare check ended in tragedy. Two adults were found dead inside a Maryland home Saturday afternoon after relatives requested a welfare check, where firefighters discovered dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide and a vehicle running inside the garage. The deaths were reported at a home in the 12700 block of Fernberry Lane in Boyds, where Montgomery County Police officers and Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service personnel responded shortly before 3:20 p.m. When crews entered the home, they found the two occupants unresponsive. Both were pronounced dead at the sce…

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by Zak Failla
Weather
Microburst Leaves Fairfax County Family With Nothing After Two Trees Smash Through Home Microburst Leaves Fairfax County Family With Nothing After Two Trees Smash Through Home
Microburst Leaves Fairfax County Family With Nothing After Two Trees Smash Through Home When the storm passed, Shanita Haynie's family wasn't thinking about replacing a roof. They were wondering what, if anything, was left. A powerful microburst ripped through the Chatham Towne neighborhood in Fairfax on Monday, sending two trees crashing into Haynie's home and leaving it uninhabitable. Now she's staying in a nearby motel while her 10-year-old daughter has moved in with a family friend. The family hasn't been allowed back inside the house.  According to a GoFundMe organized by friend Lydia Graham, they've been told to assume everything left inside was destroyed aft…

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by Zak Failla
News
Virginia Rescue Teams Search Collapsed Buildings After Deadly Venezuela Earthquakes (PHOTOS) Virginia Rescue Teams Search Collapsed Buildings After Deadly Venezuela Earthquakes (PHOTOS)
Virginia Rescue Teams Search Collapsed Buildings After Deadly Venezuela Earthquakes (Photos) As families desperately wait for signs of life beneath mountains of concrete in Venezuela, one of America's most elite rescue teams is already crawling through the rubble. Virginia Task Force 1, based in Fairfax County, is now conducting around-the-clock search-and-rescue operations in Venezuela after a pair of devastating earthquakes leveled buildings and left more than 1,400 people dead, according to international reports. The Fairfax County-sponsored Urban Search and Rescue team deployed as part of the US Department of State's international disaster response, bringing 79 specially tra…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Virginia Man Shot Dead Leaving MGM, Suspect Called 911 On Himself: Police Virginia Man Shot Dead Leaving MGM, Suspect Called 911 On Himself: Police
Virginia Man Shot Dead Leaving MGM, Suspect Called 911 On Himself: Police The house doesn't always win. A Maryland man who shot and killed 33-year-old Alexandria resident Christopher Austin Jr. during an argument at the MGM National Harbor Hotel and Casino called 911 on himself after the deadly encounter, police say. Officers from the Prince George's County Police Department were called around 11:10 p.m. Thursday, June 25, following reports of a crash near Monument Avenue and MGM National Avenue involving a Slingshot autocycle. The investigation yielded unexpected results. Detectives determined both men were waiting in the exit line at the casino parking garage…

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by Zak Failla
News
Maryland Teen Gets Life In Prison For Grisly Murder Of Tropic Bay Gardens Owner Maryland Teen Gets Life In Prison For Grisly Murder Of Tropic Bay Gardens Owner
Maryland Teen Gets Life In Prison For Grisly Murder Of Tropic Bay Gardens Owner One of Maryland's most disturbing murder cases has reached its conclusion. A teenager who admitted killing a beloved garden center owner before stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the victim was sentenced on Friday, June 26, to life in prison with the possibility of parole. In Anne Arundel County, 19-year-old Davidsonville resident Jonah Michael Poole was sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Cathleen Vitale after pleading guilty in March to first-degree murder in the May 2025 killing of 67-year-old Edward Stephen Koza, owner of Tropic Bay Water Gardens. Anne Arundel County Police …

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by Zak Failla
News
Rabid Raccoon Found In Maryland Sparks Alert For Possible Human, Pet Exposure Rabid Raccoon Found In Maryland Sparks Alert For Possible Human, Pet Exposure
Rabid Raccoon Found In Maryland Sparks Alert For Possible Human, Pet Exposure Don't pet that raccoon. Maryland health officials are warning anyone who may have come into contact with a rabid raccoon near Street to come forward after the animal tested positive for the virus. The Harford County Health Department announced on Friday, June 26, that a raccoon found near the 3600 block of Emory Church Road in Street tested positive for rabies, according to confirmation from the Maryland Department of Health. Officials said the raccoon may have exposed people or pets in the surrounding area before it was collected and tested. Simply seeing a raccoon is not cause for conce…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Fake IDs And Stolen Credit Cards Sink Alleged New Yorkers' Virginia Bank Scam, Sheriff Says Fake IDs And Stolen Credit Cards Sink Alleged New Yorkers' Virginia Bank Scam, Sheriff Says
Fake IDs And Stolen Credit Cards Sink Alleged New Yorkers' Virginia Bank Scam, Sheriff Says They brought fake IDs. Detectives say they also brought a plan. Three New Yorkers are accused of traveling to Virginia with forged identification cards and stolen credit cards in an alleged bank fraud scheme that unraveled inside a Stafford County Bank of America, according to the sheriff's office. The arrests came shortly after 3:10 p.m. on Thursday, June 25, when deputies were called to the Bank of America at Stafford Marketplace for a possible fraud attempt. By the time deputies arrived, three suspects had already been detained. Investigators say detectives found forged identification …

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by Zak Failla
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