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Wednesday, aug 13

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

Weather

Kids Rescued From Submerged Car During Montgomery County Flash Flood, Officials Say An 8-year-old was spotted standing on top of a car as floodwaters raged around him — with a toddler and a woman still trapped inside — during a wild flash flood in Maryland, authorities said. It happened just before rush hour on Thursday, Aug. 1, in Bethesda. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue crews were called to Bradley Boulevard and Mercy Hollow Lane, where storms had turned the street into a brown, fast-moving river. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue First responders arrived to find one car pinned to a guardrail. Then they made a harrowing discovery across the road: a second car…

by Zak Failla

08/01/2025

Weather

Teen Dies After Being Swept Into Storm Drain During Mount Airy Flash Flood: Police A teenager tragically died after getting caught in rising floodwaters and swept into a storm drain in Maryland during a fast-moving storm on Thursday, July 31, authorities said. The incident happened around 5:20 p.m. at the Watersville Apartments on West Watersville Road, Mount Airy Police Chief Michael Ginevra confirmed. The teen was reportedly playing with friends when floodwaters surged, and he became trapped in a storm drain, officials said. Emergency crews from the Mount Airy Police and Fire Departments, along with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, rushed to the scene and beg…

by Zak Failla

08/01/2025

News

‘Do You Want Him To Live?’: Montgomery County Gunman Raped Woman At Gunpoint In Cold Case A Maryland man will serve more than two decades behind bars after DNA evidence linked him to a horrifying cold case rape and armed robbery that left a couple traumatized in Montgomery County. James Lorenzo Greene, 49, of Fairmount Heights, was sentenced on Thursday, July 31, to life in prison, with all but 23 years suspended, for first-degree rape stemming from an attack on Walker’s Choice Road in Gaithersburg on July 26, 2000, authorities announced. According to charging documents, a man and woman were walking around 1:55 a.m. that morning, when they were approached from behind by a man ho…

by Zak Failla

08/01/2025

Police & Fire

Meth, Guns Seized After Harley With Blocked Plate Pulled Over In Fredericksburg: Police A Harley rider’s slightly obscured license plate led to a traffic stop in Virginia that ended with meth, weapon seizures, and two people in handcuffs, according to police. The stop happened on Lafayette Boulevard on Tuesday, July 29, when an officer on patrol spotted a black Harley with its rear plate partially covered by metal netting at the intersection of Hillcrest Drive, Fredericksburg Police said. When the bike was pulled over, officers identified the driver as Louis Buttice III and the passenger as Amber Sullivan. While dismounting, police noticed a bulge on Buttice’s hip, and …

by Zak Failla

07/31/2025

Police & Fire

Manassas Woman Carolina Rosales Cepeda Dies Weeks After Pedestrian Crash, Police Say A 38-year-old woman has died weeks after being struck while walking along a Virginia roadway, police said. Officers responded to the area of Centreville Road and Orchard Bridge Drive in Manassas around 2:09 a.m. on Sunday, July 13, for a crash involving a pedestrian, Prince William County Police said on Thursday, July 31. Investigators said Carolina Isabel Rosales Cepeda, of Manassas, was walking within the roadway when she was hit by a 2022 Honda Civic traveling south. The pedestrian was not in a crosswalk at the time of the crash, police noted. A 24-year-old driver from Woodbridge s…

by Zak Failla

07/31/2025

Politics

Trump Haters Trash $200M White House Expansion: 'Where's Doge When You Need Them?' A "Big, Beautiful, Ballroom" is coming to the White House — and the people are not impressed. On Thursday, July 31, the White House announced plans for a $200 million structure the Trump administration envisions as a place to "host major functions honoring world leaders and other countries without having to install an unsightly tent 100 yards from the main entrance." Officials say that the "much-needed" and exquisite addition will encompass an estimated 90,000 square feet of "intricately designed and carefully crafted space," that can fit upwards of 650 people. View thi…

by Zak Failla

07/31/2025

News

Gunrunner Drove Hundreds Of Miles To Traffick 200+ Guns To Dc-area Felons: Feds A repeat offender who funneled hundreds of illegal firearms up the East Coast to the DC area — selling many to convicted felons — is headed to federal prison, authorities announced. Michael Pittman, 30, of Washington, DC, was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison for his role in a large-scale firearms trafficking operation, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Prosecutors said Pittman rented cars and drove to Georgia and North Carolina, where he bought firearms from illegal gun suppliers. He then returned to the DC region and resold the weapons — oft…

by Zak Failla

07/31/2025

Weather

Tornado Warnings, Flash Flooding Slam Maryland, Virginia As Severe Storms Move In With a cold front moving into the region, forecasters are cautioning residents and business owners in the DMV area to be prepared for wicked storms and possible flooding. Multiple rounds of thunderstorms are possible on Thursday, July 31, with widespread totals of one to two inches, and bringing the potential for rain rates of one to two inches in 30 minutes in some areas. Tornado Warnings were also issued on Thursday in parts of Maryland and Virginia. According to the National Weather Service, localized rainfall could hit up to six inches in some metro areas, and "multiple instances…

by Zak Failla

07/31/2025

Traffic

Frederick Man’s Body Crushed In Devastating Motorcycle Wreck: 'Feels Like A Bad Dream' A Maryland man faces a long and painful road to recovery after a devastating motorcycle crash left him with catastrophic injuries. Alex Wisniewski was riding his motorcycle to work on the morning of Saturday, July 26, when he was hit by a car, according to his fiancée and friends. He was airlifted to shock trauma for treatment and evaluation of critical traumatic injuries leaving him facing an arduous recovery. Wisniewski sustained an extraordinary list of injuries, including a broken tibia and fibula in his right leg, both wrists were broken, a broken collarbone, broken ribs, a brok…

by Zak Failla

07/31/2025

Police & Fire

Watch: Dad Holds 9-Year-Old Son Hostage at Knifepoint Before Tasered Arrest Disaster was largely avoided during a standoff in Maryland between police and a man holding his young son hostage at knifepoint. The Germantown father is behind bars after police said he held a knife to his 9-year-old son’s throat during a domestic disturbance that ended with him in handcuffs. Video has been released by the Montgomery County Department of Police following a brief barricade involving Dugan Gokhan, 47. Officers were first called at around 10:15 p.m. on Saturday, July 26, to the 19900 block of Stoney Point Way, where there was a reported domestic incident involving a chi…

by Zak Failla

07/31/2025

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