Zak Failla

Assistant Managing Editor

[email protected]

FOLLOW ON

Facebook Twitter Linkedin Instagram

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

Temple Hills-Camp Springs, MD
Breaking News
Temple Hills Dad Came To America For A Better Life, Now His Family Fights To Bring Him Home Temple Hills Dad Came To America For A Better Life, Now His Family Fights To Bring Him Home Temple Hills Dad Came To America For A Better Life, Now His Family Fights To Bring Him Home
Temple Hills Dad Came To America For A Better Life, Now His Family Fights To Bring Him Home He came to America chasing a better life. Now, after a Maryland father was gunned down waiting for a bus home from work, his grieving family is fighting to bring him back to Venezuela one final time. Yeferson Alejandro Moreno-Gimenez, 27, of Temple Hills, was shot at a bus stop in the 4100 block of Minnesota Avenue NE in Washington, DC, around 5 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29. Less than 20 minutes later, his accused killer, William Louis Chase Jr., 47, was shot by a police officer during a separate confrontation just blocks away, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. But for those w…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Fredericksburg, VA
Breaking News
Halloween Pursuit Ends With Spotsy Deputies Striking Maryland Driver's Vehicle: Sheriff Halloween Pursuit Ends With Spotsy Deputies Striking Maryland Driver's Vehicle: Sheriff Halloween Pursuit Ends With Spotsy Deputies Striking Maryland Driver's Vehicle: Sheriff
Halloween Pursuit Ends With Spotsy Deputies Striking Maryland Driver's Vehicle: Sheriff Trick-or-treaters weren't the only ones in for a Halloween surprise when a Maryland man turned a festive night in Virginia into a police pursuit. Drew Mason, 37, of Hughesville, found himself in handcuffs after deputies in Spotsylvania County used their cruisers to bring his fleeing vehicle to a stop as families were heading home from Halloween festivities, according to the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office. The incident began shortly before 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, when deputies were called to Indian Acres at 6437 Morris Road for a reported hit-and-run crash involving a pedestria…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
Breaking News
Halloween Hooliganism: Nine Arrested During Boozy Virginia Weekend, Sheriff Says Halloween Hooliganism: Nine Arrested During Boozy Virginia Weekend, Sheriff Says Halloween Hooliganism: Nine Arrested During Boozy Virginia Weekend, Sheriff Says
Halloween Hooliganism: Nine Arrested During Boozy Virginia Weekend, Sheriff Says Halloween weekend brought more than costumes and candy to one Virginia county, where nine people found themselves posing for mugshots following a series of alcohol-related arrests. The Fauquier County Sheriff's Office reported nine arrests over the holiday weekend, including five for driving under the influence and four for being drunk in public. Deputies described the arrests as alcohol-related "hooliganism" in a Halloween-themed roundup that included a collage of all nine suspects. According to the sheriff's office, two of the DUI arrests were made on Marsh Road (Route 28), while the oth…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Cockeysville-Hunt Valley, MD
Breaking News
Halloween Horror Comes Back To Haunt Two Masked Men Who Targeted Cockeysville Homeowner Halloween Horror Comes Back To Haunt Two Masked Men Who Targeted Cockeysville Homeowner Halloween Horror Comes Back To Haunt Two Masked Men Who Targeted Cockeysville Homeowner
Halloween Horror Comes Back To Haunt Two Masked Men Who Targeted Cockeysville Homeowner There was neither trick, nor treat. Two masked men who survived a Halloween night shootout with a Maryland homeowner that left their accomplice dead are now facing criminal charges. Elias Bitar, 22, and Aaron Walker Jr., 24, have been charged with attempted home invasion, assault, and firearm-related offenses following the deadly confrontation in Cockeysville, Baltimore County Police announced on Monday, Nov. 2. Both men are being held without bail at the Baltimore County Detention Center. Investigators also revealed that the Halloween night encounter appears to have been targeted, though…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Gaithersburg, MD
Breaking News
A $75 Deal, A Fake Friend, A Fatal Gunshot: Gaithersburg Killer Learns His Fate A $75 Deal, A Fake Friend, A Fatal Gunshot: Gaithersburg Killer Learns His Fate A $75 Deal, A Fake Friend, A Fatal Gunshot: Gaithersburg Killer Learns His Fate
A $75 Deal, A Fake Friend, A Fatal Gunshot: Gaithersburg Killer Learns His Fate A $75 marijuana deal arranged through a friend's Instagram account cost a Maryland man his life.  For one of the men responsible for turning the transaction into a deadly robbery, it will cost him 45 years in prison. Demari Brown, 21, of Montgomery Village, was sentenced on Monday, Nov. 2, to life in prison with all but 45 years suspended for the execution-style murder of Henry Krishawn Gilbert, 20, who was shot in the head during a robbery in April 2025. What Gilbert believed was a routine marijuana sale had actually been orchestrated by Brown and Jorden Hungerford, 20, who prosecuto…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Fredericksburg, VA
Breaking News
Spotsy Driver Doing Donuts Leads Deputies On Chase Before Crashing Into Ditch: Sheriff Spotsy Driver Doing Donuts Leads Deputies On Chase Before Crashing Into Ditch: Sheriff Spotsy Driver Doing Donuts Leads Deputies On Chase Before Crashing Into Ditch: Sheriff
Spotsy Driver Doing Donuts Leads Deputies On Chase Before Crashing Into Ditch: Sheriff A driver doing donuts on a Northern Virginia roadway wound up behind bars after a hit-and-run, a police pursuit, a crash into a ditch, and one last unsuccessful attempt to escape on foot, authorities said. Stephon Wilkins-Booker, 36, of Spotsylvania, was arrested following the incident, which began around 9:40 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30, when deputies from the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office were called to the area of Patriot Highway and Orchard Ridge Drive. According to the sheriff's office, callers reported that two Dodge Chargers were driving recklessly and performing donuts in the roa…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
Breaking News
Virginia Business Destroyed, Cars Damaged As Flames Spread Toward Railroad Tracks (VIDEO) Virginia Business Destroyed, Cars Damaged As Flames Spread Toward Railroad Tracks (VIDEO) Virginia Business Destroyed, Cars Damaged As Flames Spread Toward Railroad Tracks (VIDEO)
Virginia Business Destroyed, Cars Damaged As Flames Spread Toward Railroad Tracks (Video) A Virginia business was destroyed in a massive overnight fire that damaged more than a dozen vehicles and spread toward nearby woods and railroad tracks. Firefighters were dispatched around 2 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 2, to the 6700 block of West Lynchburg-Salem Turnpike in Bedford County, where they encountered a large, single-story commercial building already engulfed in flames. The fire had also spread to numerous vehicles, while a separate brush fire was advancing toward a wooded area and nearby railroad tracks, according to the Stewartsville-Chamblissburg Volunteer Fire Department. Phot…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Fallston, MD
Obituaries
Port Of Baltimore Executive, Wife ID'd As Victims Of Deadly Harford County Crash (UPDATED) Port Of Baltimore Executive, Wife ID'd As Victims Of Deadly Harford County Crash (UPDATED) Port Of Baltimore Executive, Wife ID'd As Victims Of Deadly Harford County Crash (UPDATED)
Port Of Baltimore Executive, Wife ID'd As Victims Of Deadly Harford County Crash (Updated) For more than 26 years, Brian Miller helped keep one of Maryland's busiest ports running. On Halloween night, he and his wife were killed in a crash. Brian Walter Miller, 61, the deputy executive director for operations and logistics at the Maryland Port Administration, which oversees the Port of Baltimore, and his wife, Kimberly Anne Miller, 60, both of Fallston, were killed in a two-vehicle crash in Harford County on Saturday, Oct. 31, according to Maryland State Police. The Port of Baltimore confirmed the couple's deaths on Monday, Nov. 2, paying tribute to Miller's decades of service an…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Gaithersburg, MD
Breaking News
Two Beer Store Workers Dodge Prison After Underage Driver Kills Maryland Woman In Germantown Two Beer Store Workers Dodge Prison After Underage Driver Kills Maryland Woman In Germantown Two Beer Store Workers Dodge Prison After Underage Driver Kills Maryland Woman In Germantown
Two Beer Store Workers Dodge Prison After Underage Driver Kills Maryland Woman In Germantown Two Maryland beer store employees who sold booze to an underage driver before he caused a fatal crash that killed a 71-year-old woman have learned their fates in court. William Bolek and Richard Bolek, both employees of Travilah Beer & Wine in Rockville, pleaded guilty to selling alcohol to 20-year-old Brody Richardson before the July 21, 2025, crash that killed Mary Elizabeth Moody, according to the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office. Both men were sentenced to two years in prison, with their entire sentences suspended, followed by three years of supervised probation and 200 h…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Capitol Heights-District Heights, MD
Breaking News
Two Capitol Heights Residents, One Deadly Shooting, No Known Connection: Police Two Capitol Heights Residents, One Deadly Shooting, No Known Connection: Police Two Capitol Heights Residents, One Deadly Shooting, No Known Connection: Police
Two Capitol Heights Residents, One Deadly Shooting, No Known Connection: Police A Maryland man was found fatally shot inside his own home, and the 19-year-old accused of killing him may have had no connection to his victim, police say. Domingo Saavedra-Escalona, 50, was found suffering from a gunshot wound inside his Capitol Heights residence early on Saturday, Oct. 31, according to the Prince George's County Police Department.  Investigators have since arrested Anthony Javier Rubio, 19, also of Capitol Heights, in connection with his death. Officers responded to the unit block of Quire Avenue at approximately 4:35 a.m. on Halloween after receiving a report of a …

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Prev Page 1 of 3971 1 2 3 4 5 Next
1 - 10 of 39,704 articles