Zak Failla

Assistant Managing Editor

[email protected]

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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

Manassas, VA
Breaking News
74-Year-Old Scooter Rider Dies Weeks After Manassas Crash, Driver Charged: Police 74-Year-Old Scooter Rider Dies Weeks After Manassas Crash, Driver Charged: Police
74-Year-Old Scooter Rider Dies Weeks After Manassas Crash, Driver Charged: Police A 74-year-old scooter rider has died after being struck by a driver who blew through a stop sign in Northern Virginia, police say. Nearly a month after Jorge Valentin Diaz Ramirez struck Manassas man John Wesley Marr, police have cited the driver after the 74-year-old succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday, Aug. 18. Shortly before 8 a.m. on Tuesday, July 21, officers from the Prince William County Police Department were called to the intersection of Coverstone Drive and Aaron Lane in Manassas, where there was a reported crash. Investigators say Diaz Ramirez was driving a 2022 Kia Forte on Aa…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
CBP Thought 412 Pounds Of Khat Was A Big BWI Haul Then This Showed Up (PHOTOS) CBP Thought 412 Pounds Of Khat Was A Big BWI Haul Then This Showed Up (PHOTOS)
CBP Thought 412 Pounds Of Khat Was A Big BWI Haul Then This Showed Up (Photos) Apparently, 412 pounds wasn't enough. Just two days after federal officers intercepted hundreds of pounds of khat at a Maryland airport, an even bigger load came rolling through Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Thursday, Aug. 13. This time, there were people there to claim it. Two men from New York arrived at BWI on a flight from London and were referred for a secondary inspection by US Customs and Border Protection officers, according to the agency. Then officers started opening their luggage. Inside, they found a significant amount of what appeared to be …

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
2-Month-Old Girl's Death Ruled Homicide After Suspected Domestic Incident In DC: Police 2-Month-Old Girl's Death Ruled Homicide After Suspected Domestic Incident In DC: Police
2-Month-Old Girl's Death Ruled Homicide After Suspected Domestic Incident In DC: Police The death of an infant killed during a suspected domestic incident in DC has been ruled a homicide, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. Shortly after 9:45 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2-month-old Khamyah Honesty was found unresponsive by first responders in an apartment in the 800 block of New Jersey Avenue SE. The child was suffering from blunt force injuries, police said. She was rushed to the hospital by DC Fire and EMS personnel, where she later died. On Tuesday, Aug. 18, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for DC determined the cause of death was blunt force trauma and r…

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by Zak Failla
Greenbelt, MD
Obituaries
‘We Lost One Of The Best’: Teacher, Young Mom From Maryland Dies Suddenly On Vacation At 40 ‘We Lost One Of The Best’: Teacher, Young Mom From Maryland Dies Suddenly On Vacation At 40
‘We Lost One Of The Best’: Teacher, Young Mom From Maryland Dies Suddenly On Vacation At 40 Amanda "Mandy" Jean Butler spent more than a decade molding young minds. Now it's her community that is stepping up for her kids following her unexpected death. The 40-year-old educator passed away during a vacation on Wednesday, Aug. 12, after suffering a sudden stroke, according to loved ones. She leaves behind two little boys and a doting husband she married two years ago. Despite doctors’ efforts, Butler died at the hospital surrounded by close loved ones, organizers of a GoFundMe that went viral in the community. Her death left a hole stretching from her classroom at Stoddert Element…

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by Zak Failla
Great Falls, VA
Breaking News
ICE Targets 3 Men Charged With Child Sex Crimes At Same Virginia Jail: DHS ICE Targets 3 Men Charged With Child Sex Crimes At Same Virginia Jail: DHS
ICE Targets 3 Men Charged With Child Sex Crimes At Same Virginia Jail: DHS Three men. Three ICE detainers. One Virginia jail. The Department of Homeland Security put the Commonwealth back in its crosshairs on Wednesday, Aug. 19, after immigration officials lodged detainers against three men being held at the Middle River Regional Jail in Staunton on charges involving alleged sex crimes against children. All three were arrested within five days of each other in late July, according to DHS. Efren Ramirez Escobedo, a Mexican national, was arrested on July 24 and charged with sexual assault involving a victim between 13 and 14 years old and forcible intercourse. DHS…

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by Zak Failla
Annapolis, MD
Breaking News
Possible House Explosion Sparks Heavy Emergency Response In Anne Arundel County (DEVELOPING) Possible House Explosion Sparks Heavy Emergency Response In Anne Arundel County (DEVELOPING)
Possible House Explosion Sparks Heavy Emergency Response In Anne Arundel County (Developing) A home explosion is under investigation in Maryland. Fire crews were called to the 1100 block of Green Holly Drive in Annapolis shortly before 12:40 p.m. on Aug. 19, where officials were investigating a possible residential explosion, according to the Anne Arundel County Fire Department. Crews remained on the scene as the developing incident drew a heavy emergency response. Officials warned residents and motorists to avoid the area while firefighters worked at the scene. Details about what may have exploded, the extent of the damage, and whether anyone was injured were not immediately rel…

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by Zak Failla
Fairfax, VA
Breaking News
SUV Smashes Gas Line In Fairfax County, Forces School, Shopping Center Evacuations SUV Smashes Gas Line In Fairfax County, Forces School, Shopping Center Evacuations
SUV Smashes Gas Line In Fairfax County, Forces School, Shopping Center Evacuations One wrong turn left a Virginia roadway reeking of gas and sent students and shoppers scrambling to safety. The trouble started before noon on Wednesday, Aug. 19, when a vehicle crashed into a 12-inch gas line near Ox Road and Burke Centre Parkway in Fairfax Station, according to Fairfax County Fire and Rescue. The impact left the SUV in a precarious position off the roadway and prompted a sizable emergency response as gas poured into the area. Fairfax County Police The driver was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said. With a strong smell of gas lingering…

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by Zak Failla
Woodbridge, VA
Breaking News
24-Year-Old Drowns After Canoe Capsizes On Lake Montclair In Virginia (DEVELOPING) 24-Year-Old Drowns After Canoe Capsizes On Lake Montclair In Virginia (DEVELOPING)
24-Year-Old Drowns After Canoe Capsizes On Lake Montclair In Virginia (Developing) A late summer night on the water turned deadly for a 24-year-old man in Virginia. Police were called to Lake Montclair in the 4600 block of Spalding Drive in Dumfries at 8:26 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18, where a canoe trip ended in tragedy, according to the Prince William County Police Department. Investigators say two men were paddling across the lake when their canoe capsized. One made it out. The 24-year-old went underwater and never resurfaced. That prompted an extensive search of the lake by the department's Underwater Search and Recovery Team as crews worked to find the missing man. The…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Child Rapist Won Family's Trust With Trips, Gifts Before Exploiting More Boys In Virginia: Feds Child Rapist Won Family's Trust With Trips, Gifts Before Exploiting More Boys In Virginia: Feds
Child Rapist Won Family's Trust With Trips, Gifts Before Exploiting More Boys In Virginia: Feds Richard Scott Tyson had already spent years behind bars for raping a child when prosecutors say he worked his way into another family's trust. More than two decades after that conviction, the 57-year-old Virginia man was sentenced to life plus 10 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting two more minors after showering them with trips, gifts and activities. Tyson's path to his latest victims began in 2021, when he met the first boy and developed a relationship with him and members of his family, according to court records and evidence presented at trial. Before long, Tyson was buying…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Your Community
Long Road Home: Maryland Cyclist Seriously Hurt After Being Hit By Car In California Long Road Home: Maryland Cyclist Seriously Hurt After Being Hit By Car In California
Long Road Home: Maryland Cyclist Seriously Hurt After Being Hit By Car In California A Maryland cyclist's trip across the country has turned into a long and uncertain road home. Baltimore resident Cory Donovan was cycling in California on Saturday, Aug. 15, when he was struck by a car and seriously injured, according to longtime friend Jeff Trammell. Donovan had traveled to California for a week of cycling when everything changed in an instant, Trammell said. He was rushed to a hospital after the crash and remained there as of this week while facing an uncertain recovery. Now, thousands of miles from Maryland, Donovan doesn't know when he'll be released or when he'll be a…

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by Zak Failla
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