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Tuesday, aug 5

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

Couple's West Coast Move Out Of DMV Turns Into Fight For Recovery After Tricky Injury (Photos) They were supposed to be planning a new life on the West Coast. Instead, they’re counting surgeries on the East. Angelica Ballard and husband John, a pair of well-known teachers in St. Mary’s County, were preparing to make the move to San Francisco by the end of August for Ballard's new job, when a freak skateboard accident threw everything into chaos. According to Ballard, on June 15, John suffered a triple compound fracture in his ankle. The aftermath of the Maryland surgery. GoFundMe "Because the part of the foot where the bone ruptured is very tricky, the road to reco…

by Zak Failla

07/22/2025

News

‘Kid-Free Night’ Ends With Deadly DUI Claiming Child's Life In DMV: Prosecutors Ashley Nicole Nolan started the night with a designated driver. That night ended with her behind bars. Now, she's heading to prison for more than a decade. The 28-year-old mother from Lexington Park has been sentenced to 22 years in prison, with 14 years to serve, after killing one of her children and seriously injuring two others in a drunk driving crash in St. Mary’s County, authorities announced. The sentence stems from a deadly single-vehicle crash on March 16, 2024, in Leonardtown, when Nolan flipped her 2008 Honda Odyssey several times on Point Lookout Road before crashing into a tree…

by Zak Failla

07/22/2025

Police & Fire

Trooper Injured As Porsche Driver Bails After I-395 Crash In Virginia: State Police He ran faster than his Porsche. A Virginia State Trooper was hurt in a hit-and-run crash involving a 2020 Porsche Carrera 911 on I-395 that ended with the driver bailing on foot and disappearing into the dark, police said. The crash happened around 12:34 a.m. on Tuesday, July 22, along the southbound lanes of the interstate near Exit 8B, according to Virginia State Police spokesperson Matthew Demlein. Investigators say the Porsche—bearing Montana registration—moved into the right lane and struck the trooper’s vehicle, then pulled onto the shoulder. That’s when the driver took off on…

by Zak Failla

07/22/2025

Politics

Watch: ICE Arrests Ethiopian Rapist Near Virginia Border After 20-Year Conviction Immigration officials were busy in Maryland on Tuesday, apprehending an Ethiopian rapist who was taken into custody in Montgomery County. Video shared by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) showed the arrest of Ethiopian criminal alien Abraham Berhanu Taddesse in Takoma Park. According to ICE, charges against the 50-year-old Taddesse include first- and second-degree rape, assault, and indecent exposure. Officials said that he was convicted and sentenced to 20 years. Watch our ICE officers and @CBP partners arrest Ethiopian criminal ali…

by Zak Failla

07/22/2025

Police & Fire

Copper Wire Theft In Maryland Sparks Multi-State Manhunt, Arrests Of DC Suspects: Police A $16,000 copper wire theft in Maryland helped crack open a massive burglary ring linked to more than 20 crimes in at least five states, police announced. Two suspects from DC have been indicted in connection with a sprawling string of crimes that spanned at least five states and triggered a massive operation involving 17 police departments, the Bel Air Police Department announced. The case began in Harford County, where Bel Air detectives launched an investigation into a trio of burglaries at American Design and Build on Gateway Drive. The business was targeted on Feb. 28, March 5, and Ma…

by Zak Failla

07/22/2025

Police & Fire

‘Not A Threat, A Promise’: Drunken IHOP Brawl Ends With VA Woman Attacking Cops: Sheriff It wasn’t pancakes getting flipped at a Virginia IHOP. Ahmani Graves, 26, is facing multiple charges after Stafford County deputies say she took umbrage with a passenger in her vehicle who questioned her sobriety, setting off a wild series of events that turned the popular eatery upside down. Shortly after 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 20, deputies were called to IHOP on Simpson Road, where staff advised that two women were brawling, and as they arrived, Graves attempted to leave the scene. Graves reportedly showed signs of intoxication and smelled of booze, and she continued to refuse deputie…

by Zak Failla

07/22/2025

Police & Fire

5 Stabbed During Virginia Car Meet Gone Wrong: 'Senseless Youth Violence,' Sheriff Says A violent brawl broke out during an unorganized car meet in Virginia, leaving five people hospitalized — and one man behind bars. Lenox Shelton was arrested and charged with malicious wounding after a stabbing incident that injured five people early Sunday morning, July 20, the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office announced. Deputies responded around 2:00 a.m. to the 4800 block of Southpoint Parkway, where they found a chaotic scene with people scattering in all directions as they arrived. Multiple stabbing victims were on the ground, while others had already driven themselves to area hospi…

by Zak Failla

07/22/2025

Traffic

Motorcyclist Killed On I-495 In Virginia; Bike Traveled Nearly A Mile: VSP (Developing) A motorcyclist died after a violent crash along I-495 in Fairfax County on Monday afternoon, Virginia State Police confirmed. The crash happened around 5:30 p.m. on July 21, on the westbound lanes of I-495 near Telegraph Road, VSP spokesperson Matthew Demlein said. “A motorcycle, traveling westbound, collided with a guardrail,” Demlein said on Monday night. “The rider suffered serious injuries and succumbed to those injuries at an area hospital.” After hitting the guardrail, the motorcycle continued down the interstate for nearly a mile, investigators said. Troopers say a possible medical…

by Zak Failla

07/21/2025

Obituaries

Beloved Virginia Public Servant Bob Weir Dies At 62 After Cancer Battle Prince William County is grieving the loss of a respected leader and longtime public servant. Gainesville District Supervisor Bob Weir died Sunday, July 20, following a battle with metastatic colon cancer, his office confirmed. He was 62 years old. “Bob was someone who fought for the people he represented and stood up for what he believed in,” Board of County Supervisors Chair At-Large Deshundra Jefferson said. “He was a man of fierce conviction and integrity who didn’t suffer fools gladly.” Weir had served as Gainesville’s representative on the Prince William Board of County …

by Zak Failla

07/21/2025

Police & Fire

Punched In The Face, Woman Outdrives Would-Be Carjacker In Wild Escape In DMV, Police Say A rideshare driver in Maryland fought off an attempted carjacking in a terrifying way — by flooring it and swerving until the attacker bailed out, police said. A woman working as a rideshare driver in Bethesda was repeatedly punched by a passenger who tried to steal her car, but she managed to escape by speeding off and making sharp turns that forced the attacker out, Montgomery County Police said. The attack happened around 6:24 p.m. Saturday, May 24, on Rockville Pike, according to the department on Monday, when it released photos of the suspects. Investigators said the driver picked up …

by Zak Failla

07/21/2025

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