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Zak Failla

Assistant Managing Editor

zfailla@dailyvoice.com

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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

News
Search Intensifies For Centreville Hiker With Dragon Tattoo Missing Over A Month Search Intensifies For Centreville Hiker With Dragon Tattoo Missing Over A Month
Search Intensifies For Centreville Hiker With Dragon Tattoo Missing Over A Month He vanished without a trace more than a month ago — and now, there’s a renewed push to find him. Michael “Deric” Bennet, 42, was last seen on Thursday, Feb. 27 in Centreville, and hasn’t been heard from since, according to a missing person alert shared by Shenandoah National Park officials. The theory?  Bennet may have gone off the grid and onto the Appalachian Trail, where vast stretches of rugged wilderness and miles of trail could make him hard to spot — or reach. The 6-foot, 190-pound man is described as having brown hair and distinct tattoos, including a dragon skeleton on his b…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
School Bus Catches Fire With Students On Board In Landover (DEVELOPING) School Bus Catches Fire With Students On Board In Landover (DEVELOPING)
School Bus Catches Fire With Students On Board In Landover (Developing) A school bus carrying 15 elementary school students went up in flames Tuesday afternoon in Prince George’s County — but, no one was hurt, fire officials said. Firefighters with the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department responded to Twilight Drive and Covenant Gardens Court in Landover around 4:39 p.m. on April 1 for a reported school bus fire, according to officials. The fire was extinguished quickly, and no injuries were reported. The bus was identified as Bus #6041 from Thomas G. Pullen Elementary School, and all 15 students on board were safely evacuated. A new bus was dispatched …

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
One Killed In High-Rise Apartment Fire In Annapolis, Officials Say One Killed In High-Rise Apartment Fire In Annapolis, Officials Say
One Killed In High-Rise Apartment Fire In Annapolis, Officials Say A fire in a high-rise apartment building in Annapolis turned deadly Tuesday afternoon, leaving one person dead and prompting an extended emergency response, according to fire officials. Firefighters with the Anne Arundel County Fire Department and Annapolis Fire Department were called to the 100 block of Hearn Road around 4:00 p.m. on April 1 for reports of an apartment fire on the 10th floor of the building that was brought under control. Shortly after 4:30 p.m., the Anne Arundel County Fire Department confirmed that one person was found dead inside the fire apartment. Crews remained on sc…

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by Zak Failla
Lifestyle
Florida Man Wins $5M Virginia Lottery Jackpot To Shut Down Scratch-Off Game Florida Man Wins $5M Virginia Lottery Jackpot To Shut Down Scratch-Off Game
Florida Man Wins $5M Virginia Lottery Jackpot To Shut Down Scratch-Off Game A Florida man is heading home a multi-millionaire after scoring the final top prize in a popular Virginia Lottery scratcher, officials say. Andrew Lubbers of Palm Coast hit it big on a $326,000,000 Fortune ticket he bought at the Food City on Wood Avenue in Big Stone Gap, according to Virginia Lottery officials on Tuesday, April 1. Lubbers said he knew right away he had won the game’s $5 million top prize. He had the option to take the full amount over 30 years, but instead chose the one-time cash payout of $3.125, before taxes. The Food City store also wins — earning a $10,000 bonus for …

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Armed Suspect Found Dead In Home After Standoff With Police In Dundalk (UPDATED) Armed Suspect Found Dead In Home After Standoff With Police In Dundalk (UPDATED)
Armed Suspect Found Dead In Home After Standoff With Police In Dundalk (Updated) An hours-long standoff in Dundalk ended in tragedy Tuesday after an armed man who opened fire on officers was found dead inside his home from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities confirmed. Officers with the Baltimore County Police Department responded to the 2500 block of Gray Manor Terrace around 7:30 a.m. on April 1 for reports of a prior gunfire incident, according to the agency. While investigating, officers were suddenly fired upon by a nearby resident, officials said. Police returned fire and immediately called for a barricade. The situation forced multiple area sc…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Man Exposed Himself To Girl Scouts, Masturbated In Fredericksburg Coffee Shop, Police Say Man Exposed Himself To Girl Scouts, Masturbated In Fredericksburg Coffee Shop, Police Say
Man Exposed Himself To Girl Scouts, Masturbated In Fredericksburg Coffee Shop, Police Say A man is behind bars after police say he flashed a group of Girl Scouts, groped a restaurant employee, and was caught masturbating in public — all within a short span Saturday in downtown Fredericksburg. The suspect, Terrence Graham, 28, who has no fixed address, was arrested nearby and positively identified after officers responded to two indecent exposure reports and one sexual battery on March 29, the Fredericksburg Police Department said. All three incidents involved the same man, described at the time by witnesses only as a Black man with a beard and long hair, riding a bicycle. In th…

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by Zak Failla
Politics
Feds Admit Deportation Error That Landed Father In Notorious El Salvador Prison Feds Admit Deportation Error That Landed Father In Notorious El Salvador Prison
Feds Admit Deportation Error That Landed Father In Notorious El Salvador Prison Top officials in the Trump administration admitted to mistakenly deporting a Maryland father to an El Salvadoran mega-prison—despite a court order blocking his removal. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who lived in Maryland with his wife and 5-year-old child, was taken into ICE custody in March and deported just days later, federal officials said in a new court filing on Monday, March 31. His family says he should never have been removed in the first place. Abrego Garcia had previously been granted withholding of removal by an immigration judge back in 2019—meaning the g…

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by Zak Failla
Business
Power Cut, Pharmacy Hit In Early Morning Burglary In Leonardtown, Sheriff Says Power Cut, Pharmacy Hit In Early Morning Burglary In Leonardtown, Sheriff Says
Power Cut, Pharmacy Hit In Early Morning Burglary In Leonardtown, Sheriff Says Burglars pulled the plug — literally — before forcing their way into a pharmacy in Southern Maryland in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office said. Deputies responded to a commercial burglary alarm at a business in the 25000 block of Point Lookout Road in Leonardtown around 3 a.m. Tuesday, April 1, according to an official release. When deputies got to the scene, they found the power to the building had been cut at the breaker box, and there were clear signs of forced entry into the pharmacy. Inside, deputies said there was visible evidence of theft. It…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Suspicious Death In Laurel Prompts Police Investigation (DEVELOPING) Suspicious Death In Laurel Prompts Police Investigation (DEVELOPING)
Suspicious Death In Laurel Prompts Police Investigation (Developing) A quiet neighborhood in Prince George's County turned into a crime scene before sunrise after police discovered a man dead under suspicious circumstances, authorities said. Officers with the Laurel Police Department responded to the 1000 block of Marton Street around 4:18 a.m. on Tuesday, April 1, and found the body of a man, who has not been identified, according to a statement from the department. Detectives are treating the case as a suspicious death, officials said. The exact cause and manner of death will be determined by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. “The circumstances of…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
‘Tired’ Stafford Man Nearly Hits Deputies Head-On Before DUI Arrest: Sheriff ‘Tired’ Stafford Man Nearly Hits Deputies Head-On Before DUI Arrest: Sheriff
‘Tired’ Stafford Man Nearly Hits Deputies Head-On Before DUI Arrest: Sheriff A close call landed a "tired" repeat DUI driver back behind bars after nearly barreling into a sheriff's deputy on patrol in Stafford County over the weekend, authorities say. It happened around 4:50 p.m. on Sunday, March 30, when deputies were heading north on Widewater Road near Osterman and saw a Honda coming straight at them — in their lane, the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office said on Tuesday, April 1. The driver swerved back into the correct lane just in time. According to the sheriff’s office, if the timing had been even slightly different, “it is likely neither party would be able …

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by Zak Failla
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