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

Gaithersburg, MD
Breaking News
Silver Spring Woman, 72, ID'd By Police As Pedestrian Killed Crossing Busy Maryland Highway Silver Spring Woman, 72, ID'd By Police As Pedestrian Killed Crossing Busy Maryland Highway Silver Spring Woman, 72, ID'd By Police As Pedestrian Killed Crossing Busy Maryland Highway
Silver Spring Woman, 72, ID'd By Police As Pedestrian Killed Crossing Busy Maryland Highway An off-duty police officer came upon a grim scene along a busy Maryland road, where a 72-year-old woman had been struck by a passing vehicle. Silver Spring resident Enyish Sergawie Asemahegne, 72, has been identified by the Montgomery County Police Department as the pedestrian killed trying to cross a busy roadway during the morning commute on Wednesday.  Shortly after 7 a.m. on Oct. 14, an off-duty Montgomery County police officer spotted the collision at the intersection of Randolph Road and Locksley Lane, police say.  Responding officers and Montgomery County Fire and Res…

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by Zak Failla
Jessup, MD
Breaking News
New Video Shows Aftermath Of Fatal Jessup Police Chase: ' Why'd You Have To Hit Me?' New Video Shows Aftermath Of Fatal Jessup Police Chase: ' Why'd You Have To Hit Me?' New Video Shows Aftermath Of Fatal Jessup Police Chase: ' Why'd You Have To Hit Me?'
New Video Shows Aftermath Of Fatal Jessup Police Chase: ' Why'd You Have To Hit Me?' The Attorney General's Office has released new video showing the police pursuit that preceded a fatal crash in Maryland last month. Anthony Bowers Jr., 20, of Baltimore, was identified as the person who died following a Sunday, Sept. 6 crash in Jessup, according to the Maryland Attorney General's Independent Investigations Division. The incident began at approximately 2:17 a.m., when the Infiniti struck an occupied, parked Howard County Police cruiser in the 7100 block of Montevideo Road and fled. The beginning of the pursuit in Maryland. Maryland OAG PFC Amir Parker pursued the In…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
Woman Stabbed To Death, Man Charged With Murder After Argument In Baltimore: Police Woman Stabbed To Death, Man Charged With Murder After Argument In Baltimore: Police Woman Stabbed To Death, Man Charged With Murder After Argument In Baltimore: Police
Woman Stabbed To Death, Man Charged With Murder After Argument In Baltimore: Police An argument turned fatal in Maryland, leaving a 40-year-old woman dead and a man facing murder charges. Dominique Wilson was stabbed on Wednesday, Oct. 14, in the 2400 block of Druid Hill Avenue in West Baltimore, where officers responding to a reported cutting around 5:24 p.m. found her seriously wounded. Police attempted to save Wilson, administering first aid and CPR before paramedics rushed her to an area hospital, but she died a short time later. By then, officers had already detained a person of interest at the scene. That man has since been identified as Anthony Thomas, 51, who inv…

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by Zak Failla
Sterling, VA
Your Community
BWI's Longest Runway Reopens After $83.8M Overhaul Ahead Of Holiday Travel Rush BWI's Longest Runway Reopens After $83.8M Overhaul Ahead Of Holiday Travel Rush BWI's Longest Runway Reopens After $83.8M Overhaul Ahead Of Holiday Travel Rush
BWI's Longest Runway Reopens After $83.8M Overhaul Ahead Of Holiday Travel Rush It took nearly three months and more than $83 million, but Maryland's busiest airport finally has its longest runway back. The massive makeover at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport came to an end on Thursday, Oct. 15, when Runway 10-28 reopened to air traffic after undergoing a complete rehabilitation that began in the heart of summer. And it didn't take long for the freshly paved runway to get its first visitor. At 2:24 p.m., Southwest Airlines Flight 716 touched down from West Palm Beach, Florida, becoming the first aircraft to use the runway since construction…

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by Zak Failla
Reisterstown, MD
Your Community
South Baltimore Sports Legend Who Gave Kids A Place To Play Now Needs A Team Of His Own South Baltimore Sports Legend Who Gave Kids A Place To Play Now Needs A Team Of His Own South Baltimore Sports Legend Who Gave Kids A Place To Play Now Needs A Team Of His Own
South Baltimore Sports Legend Who Gave Kids A Place To Play Now Needs A Team Of His Own For generations of young athletes in Maryland, Coach Kenny Kulesz was the man who made sure the fields were ready, the teams were organized, and there was always a game to play. Now, the South Baltimore sports legend is the one who needs a team in his corner after suffering a stroke. Kulesz suffered a stroke that significantly affected his speech and balance, leaving the longtime coach facing an uncertain road to recovery that could stretch months or even years. According to his family, he will need at least several weeks of inpatient rehabilitation, followed by extensive therapy and care …

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by Zak Failla
Lexington Park, MD
Breaking News
Maryland Dumpster Fire Fugitive Caught After Sailboat Washes Ashore After Five Years On The Run Maryland Dumpster Fire Fugitive Caught After Sailboat Washes Ashore After Five Years On The Run Maryland Dumpster Fire Fugitive Caught After Sailboat Washes Ashore After Five Years On The Run
Maryland Dumpster Fire Fugitive Caught After Sailboat Washes Ashore After Five Years On The Run Michael Summar is back in Maryland to face charges following a dumpster fire more than five years ago. It wasn't the investigative work that got him. It wasn't good policing. It was choppy waters.  Summar, a Tennessee man wanted in connection with a 2021 dumpster fire in Wicomico County, has been extradited back to Maryland after his sailboat washed ashore in Delaware. According to the Maryland Fire Marshal, on May 5, 2021, firefighters were called to a business in the 33200 block of Beaver Ridge Drive in Salisbury, where there was a dumpster fire that caused an estimated $5,000 in da…

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by Zak Failla
Columbia, MD
Breaking News
Maryland Tennis Club Takes Responsibility For Racist Image Distributed To Visiting Teams Maryland Tennis Club Takes Responsibility For Racist Image Distributed To Visiting Teams Maryland Tennis Club Takes Responsibility For Racist Image Distributed To Visiting Teams
Maryland Tennis Club Takes Responsibility For Racist Image Distributed To Visiting Teams A disturbing image that never should have made it into a Maryland college tennis tournament program has prompted a public apology and a pledge to do better. The University of Maryland Club Tennis team in College Park has taken responsibility for distributing a tournament program featuring an image resembling a Ku Klux Klan hood to visiting teams, including Howard University, during a weekend competition. The controversial graphic incorporated the Maryland state flag alongside a white hood resembling those worn by members of the KKK, a notorious white supremacist organization. Now, the stud…

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by Zak Failla
Elkton, MD
Your Community
Rabid Raccoon Found In Darlington Sparks Warning Over Possible Exposures Rabid Raccoon Found In Darlington Sparks Warning Over Possible Exposures Rabid Raccoon Found In Darlington Sparks Warning Over Possible Exposures
Rabid Raccoon Found In Darlington Sparks Warning Over Possible Exposures A raccoon carrying a deadly virus has Maryland health officials worried about who, or what, it may have encountered before being found. The animal was discovered near the 1500 block of Arena Road in Darlington, Harford County, where officials are now urging residents to come forward if they or their pets had contact with a raccoon in the area. The warning came on Wednesday, Oct. 14, a day after the Harford County Health Department received confirmation from the state that the animal had tested positive for rabies. The concern isn't simply that the infected raccoon was found. It's that heal…

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by Zak Failla
Elkton, MD
Breaking News
Like Father, Like Son: Whiteford Duo Ran Dog-Fighting Operation For A Decade, Feds Say Like Father, Like Son: Whiteford Duo Ran Dog-Fighting Operation For A Decade, Feds Say Like Father, Like Son: Whiteford Duo Ran Dog-Fighting Operation For A Decade, Feds Say
Like Father, Like Son: Whiteford Duo Ran Dog-Fighting Operation For A Decade, Feds Say Theodore Lamont Stinson and Theodore Lamont Stinson Jr. share more than just blood and a family name. The father-son duo also allegedly ran a dog-fighting operation in Maryland that spanned more than a decade, according to federal prosecutors. Stinson Sr., 48, and his son, 25, both of Whiteford, were indicted on Thursday, Oct. 15, on 12 federal counts stemming from a conspiracy involving the sale, purchase, breeding, and training of pit-bull-type dogs for fighting. According to the indictment, the Stinsons began operating a kennel known as "KLK" more than a decade ago, using it to advertis…

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by Zak Failla
Lexington Park, MD
Breaking News
Lexington Park Drug Suspect Busted With Bullet In Chamber, Cocaine, Heroin, Sheriff Says Lexington Park Drug Suspect Busted With Bullet In Chamber, Cocaine, Heroin, Sheriff Says Lexington Park Drug Suspect Busted With Bullet In Chamber, Cocaine, Heroin, Sheriff Says
Lexington Park Drug Suspect Busted With Bullet In Chamber, Cocaine, Heroin, Sheriff Says A suspected drug dealer in Maryland was packing heat with a bullet in the chamber when his luck ran out during a sheriff's office investigation, authorities say. Wade Joshua Braithwaite, 33, of Lexington Park, was taken into custody on Columbus Drive on Wednesday, Oct. 14, after detectives investigating suspected drug distribution obtained warrants targeting him, according to the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office. Braithwaite was arrested without incident, but a search turned up a loaded Canik METE MC9 semiautomatic handgun with a round already in the chamber. Deputies also recovered susp…

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by Zak Failla
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