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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
Comedian Matt Rife Becomes ‘Legal Guardian’ of Annabelle Doll, Warren Family’s Haunted Items Comedian Matt Rife Becomes ‘Legal Guardian’ of Annabelle Doll, Warren Family’s Haunted Items
Comedian Matt Rife Becomes ‘Legal Guardian’ of Annabelle Doll, Warren Family’s Haunted Items Matt Rife is most well-known for his comedy chops. Now, he's dipping his toes into the horror genre. The comedian took to social media to announce that he and content creator Elton Castee have "officially purchased" the home and museum of the Warren family in Monroe, Connecticut, which includes their "entire haunted collection"  — as well as the infamous Annabelle doll. Rife made it official in what he dubbed an "INSANE ANNOUNCEMENT."  "I have officially purchased Ed and Lorraine Warren’s home and Occult Museum, including being the legal guardian for at least the next (five years…

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by Zak Failla
Obituaries
Mount Airy Skateboarder, 13, Dies In Flash Flood Outside Home: 'There Is Now A Darkness' Mount Airy Skateboarder, 13, Dies In Flash Flood Outside Home: 'There Is Now A Darkness'
Mount Airy Skateboarder, 13, Dies In Flash Flood Outside Home: 'There Is Now A Darkness' A flash flood hit a small Maryland community in a matter of minutes. In even less time, a 13-year-old boy was gone. Mason Paul Kearns was swept into a storm drain just 20 feet from his family’s front door on Thursday, July 31, around 5:20 p.m. — all while his family watched helplessly as they attempted to save him. Emergency responders rushed to the Watersville Apartments on West Watersville Road, where Kearns had been caught in rapidly rising floodwaters. “Mason became trapped in a storm drainpipe as he was swept away by the heavy rainfall,” Mount Airy Chief Michael Ginevra said…

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by Zak Failla
Business
Dunkin' Ad Featuring Gavin Casalegno Sparks Outrage Over 'Genetics' Line Dunkin' Ad Featuring Gavin Casalegno Sparks Outrage Over 'Genetics' Line
Dunkin' Ad Featuring Gavin Casalegno Sparks Outrage Over 'Genetics' Line A new Dunkin' ad is the latest to face backlash for channeling "genetics" in an effort to hype a new product. Fresh on the heels of American Eagle's "Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans" campaign, which was called out for purported racist undertones, the breakfast franchise introduced The Summer I Turned Pretty actor Gavin Casalegno promoting its Golden Hour Refresher drink. During the ad, which went viral on social media with more than 13,000 likes on TikTok alone, Casalegno references his "golden tan," which he attributes to the beverage. @dunkin golden hour hits different with Dun…

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by Zak Failla
Business
Paula Deen’s Flagship Restaurant ‘The Lady & Sons’ Closes After 36 Years Paula Deen’s Flagship Restaurant ‘The Lady & Sons’ Closes After 36 Years
Paula Deen’s Flagship Restaurant ‘The Lady & Sons’ Closes After 36 Years The kitchen is closed. Former Food Network superstar Paula Deen announced that she will be closing one of the restaurants that brought her to fame down South.  The 78-year-old chef announced that The Lady & Sons in Savannah — which she has run for decades with her two sons — will be shutting its doors for good, along with The Chicken Box, which operated serving takeout in the back of the restaurant.  Their last day of service was on Thursday, July 31.  The family took to social media to announce the closure, much to the chagrin of hungry eaters in Georgia. "Thank you f…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Waldorf Man Set Fire To Wife’s Bed During Domestic Dispute — While Kids Slept: Sheriff Waldorf Man Set Fire To Wife’s Bed During Domestic Dispute — While Kids Slept: Sheriff
Waldorf Man Set Fire To Wife’s Bed During Domestic Dispute — While Kids Slept: Sheriff A Charles County man who agreed to keep the peace by sleeping on his side of the house during a domestic dispute allegedly returned to his wife’s room hours later — with a gas can in hand, investigators say. Omar Shariff Harrison, 49, of Waldorf, was arrested early Friday, Aug. 1, after allegedly pouring gasoline on the bed where his wife was sleeping and lighting the sheets on fire, the Maryland State Fire Marshal said. The terrifying incident happened around 5 a.m. in the 3000 block of Eutaw Forest Drive — while their children were sleeping inside. Deputies had been called to the same ho…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Gambrills Man Groomed, Raped 12-Year-Old Girl Despite Past Conviction, Officials Say Gambrills Man Groomed, Raped 12-Year-Old Girl Despite Past Conviction, Officials Say
Gambrills Man Groomed, Raped 12-Year-Old Girl Despite Past Conviction, Officials Say A Maryland man who entered into an ongoing sexual relationship with a young girl is facing years in prison. Christopher Steven McGee, 35, of Gambrills, was found guilty at trial of raping his 12-year-old victim after "cultivating an ongoing sexual relationship" with her, according to the Anne Arundel County State's Attorney's Office. A probe was launched by police in December 2023 into reported child sex abuse involving McGee, then 34, and the girl, who was her boyfriend’s stepfather. Prosecutors said that the investigation revealed a pattern of grooming and manipulation by the d…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Teen In Tesla Pulls Laser-Equipped Gun During Stafford Road Rage Meltdown: Sheriff Teen In Tesla Pulls Laser-Equipped Gun During Stafford Road Rage Meltdown: Sheriff
Teen In Tesla Pulls Laser-Equipped Gun During Stafford Road Rage Meltdown: Sheriff A teenage Tesla driver in Virginia allegedly forced another car off the road and pulled a gun — all because he wanted to get to his phone repair shop, according to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office. Jayden Horton, 19, of Stafford, was arrested after an unprovoked road rage incident on Richmond Highway that ended with a high-risk stop and a BB gun found in his Tesla, authorities said. The chaos started around 1:52 p.m. on Thursday, July 31, when deputies were called to the area of Richmond Highway and Coal Landing Road for a reported road rage encounter, according to the sheriff’s office.…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
VA Man Ignored Friends, Hit Tequila — Then Hit Tree Twice Fleeing Deputies: Sheriff VA Man Ignored Friends, Hit Tequila — Then Hit Tree Twice Fleeing Deputies: Sheriff
VA Man Ignored Friends, Hit Tequila — Then Hit Tree Twice Fleeing Deputies: Sheriff A Virginia man downing tequila shots at a bar and claiming he was having “a bad night” made things a whole lot worse for himself, deputies say. German Alfaro, 23, of Woodbridge, is accused of getting wasted at Buffalo Mo’s early Friday, Aug. 1, before crashing his beat-up Honda Civic — not once, but twice — while leading Stafford County deputies on a bizarre drunk-driving chase. It started around 2:10 a.m., when deputies were called to the bar on Wicomico Drive for a report of an intoxicated driver who had already driven into some bushes. When a sergeant showed up, they spotted the Civic — …

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Gunmen Caught In Armed Standoff That Rocked Arlington Street: Police Gunmen Caught In Armed Standoff That Rocked Arlington Street: Police
Gunmen Caught In Armed Standoff That Rocked Arlington Street: Police Gunfire erupted in a Virginia neighborhood after a dispute between two groups turned into an armed standoff in broad daylight last year. Now, three alleged gunmen are in custody, according to the Arlington Police Department. Shots were fired shortly before 2 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024, in the 1200 block of South Ross Street in the Columbia Heights neighborhood, police said. The shooting stemmed from a verbal argument between two groups that rapidly escalated, they noted. Members of each group pulled out guns and began firing, according to investigators, though no injuries were reported…

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by Zak Failla
News
Virginia ‘Reaper’ Who Made Teen Girl Carve His Name Into Her Leg Learns Prison Fate Virginia ‘Reaper’ Who Made Teen Girl Carve His Name Into Her Leg Learns Prison Fate
Virginia ‘Reaper’ Who Made Teen Girl Carve His Name Into Her Leg Learns Prison Fate A 26-year-old Virginia man who was the leader in an online group that cyber stalked and terrorized young girls online will spend years in federal prison, authorities announced. Evan Strauss, of Moneta, who goes by the monikers "Reaper" and Kobe Deonsons" was sentenced on Thursday, Aug. 1 to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to stalking and child pornography offenses last year. The charges stem from a toxic relationship he formed online with a 17-year-old girl from Wyoming, whom he harassed and controlled for months.  The minor—identified in court documents only as Minor A—was t…

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by Zak Failla
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