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Thursday, aug 14

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

Business

Mane Event: Baltimore County Horse Hoisted From 10-Foot Pit (Photos) A daring rescue in Maryland ended with a horse safely back on its feet after it fell nearly 10 feet into a pit Thursday morning, Aug. 14, officials said. Crews were called to the 13300 block of Old Hanover Road in Reisterstown around 7:20 a.m. for a confined space animal rescue, according to the Baltimore County Fire Department. Fire officials said the horse had been walking over a wooden plank when it gave way, sending the animal into the deep hole. Baltimore County Fire Department Photos from the scene show firefighters and technical rescue teams surrounding the pit as the horse l…

by Zak Failla

08/14/2025

Police & Fire

Sheriff’s Deputy Injured In Loudoun County Motorcycle Collision (Developing) A Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office deputy was hospitalized after a motorcycle crash on Mountain Road Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 13, officials said. The collision happened around 1 p.m. between Hyatt Lane and Morrisonville Road, according to the sheriff’s office. The deputy, a member of the LCSO Motor Unit, and the other individual involved — who was also riding a motorcycle — were both transported to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit is investigating. Anyone with information is asked to contact Deputy Walsh at 7…

by Zak Failla

08/13/2025

Lifestyle

‘Fighting For Her Life’: Port Deposit 6-Year-Old With Leukemia Now Recovering At Home Oakley Avalos continues her unexpected fight against B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia — but this week, she’s doing it from the comfort of home, surrounded by the family who has been by the 6-year-old's side since day one. Her parents, Bethany and Chad Avalos, said in an update on Wednesday, Aug. 13, that Oakley’s levels held steady enough for doctors at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore to approve her release after weeks of treatment. It’s a big step forward in a battle that began unexpectedly, when the little girl — known for her love of all things pink, unicorns, axolotls — was giv…

by Zak Failla

08/13/2025

Traffic

$90K Weed Bust At Dulles Airport Marks 2nd Major Seizure In 3 Days: Feds A Georgia man was busted at Dulles International Airport with more than 23 pounds of marijuana stuffed in his suitcase — the second major weed seizure at the airport in just three days, officials said. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said officers stopped 27-year-old Octavious Lamar Dozier, of Atlanta, on Tuesday, Aug. 5, as he tried to board a Dublin-bound flight with a connection to Leeds, England. CBP said an inspection of checked baggage being loaded onto the flight uncovered 14 vacuum-sealed packages inside a hard-sided suitcase. The packages contained a green leafy subst…

by Zak Failla

08/13/2025

Police & Fire

Beer In Hand, Stafford Man Tells Deputies ‘Catch Me’ Before Sprinting Into Traffic: Sheriff A Virginia man who allegedly downed a beer in public and shouted “you’re gonna have to catch me” to law enforcement learned the hard way that deputies take that kind of challenge seriously. The sheriff’s office said it started around 1:08 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 11, when a deputy responded to a disturbance at Waffle House on Civilian Street in Stafford County. A man, later identified as 35-year-old David Owens, appeared intoxicated and was reportedly talking inappropriately to female employees, officials said. Before the deputy arrived, a fire marshal spotted Owens walking on Celebrate Virgin…

by Zak Failla

08/13/2025

Lifestyle

‘Amazing And So Strong’: Maryland Girl, 2, Battling Cancer At Chop Inspires Community Support A 2-year-old Maryland girl is in the fight of her life at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) — and an entire community is stepping up to help. Gracie has spent her entire life battling unexplained symptoms and enduring countless doctor visits before a recent cancer diagnosis stunned the family. Specialists at CHOP have worked “tirelessly to uncover a diagnosis after many failed treatments," according to a family friend, but her condition remains tricky. “This journey has been emotionally and financially overwhelming for her family,” organizers of a fundraiser set up for the fam…

by Zak Failla

08/13/2025

Lifestyle

Leesburg Opens First Themed Playground At Ida Lee Park For Kids 5 And Under Leesburg’s youngest residents have a brand-new place to play, and it comes with a school bus, musical flowers, and even a giant caterpillar. Vice Mayor Todd Cimino-Johnson joined members of the Parks & Recreation and Capital Projects Departments on Wednesday, Aug. 13, to cut the ribbon on the town’s first themed playground at Ida Lee Park. Designed for children ages five years old and under, the new small playground features a “play bus” that encourages discovery, creativity, and connection with nature, organizers said. Kids can climb, slide, spin in a cocoon, explore sensory pan…

by Zak Failla

08/13/2025

Traffic

Miles-Long Backup Reported After Tractor-Trailer Crash Shuts Down I-495 In Montgomery County A tractor-trailer crash on I-495 in Montgomery County shut down all westbound lanes and caused miles of backups Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 13, according to transportation officials. The crash happened on the Outer Loop at the I-270 Spur (Exit 38), the Metropolitan Area Transportation Operations Coordination (MATOC) program reported shortly after 2 p.m. All lanes were blocked and delays stretched roughly 2.5 miles. By 2:46 p.m., officials said all lanes were still closed, with traffic being diverted to MD-187 (Exit 36). Delays had grown to about three miles. A Maryland Department of T…

by Zak Failla

08/13/2025

Police & Fire

No Arson Found In Waldorf Fire That Killed 6 — Cause Remains A Mystery After Deadly Blaze Investigators say a disconnected smoke alarm with no battery was found in the basement of a Maryland home where six people — including four children — were killed in a weekend fire. The Office of the State Fire Marshal said the deadly blaze broke out Sunday morning, Aug. 10, in Waldorf, killing victims believed to be the wife and three children of the homeowner, along with the wife and child of another surviving resident of the home. While no evidence of arson has been found, the cause is still under investigation, officials said. All smoke alarms on the first and second floors were …

by Zak Failla

08/13/2025

News

Texas Top 10 Most Wanted Child Sex Assault Suspect Captured In Severn: Sheriff A fugitive once featured on Texas’s Top 10 Most Wanted list for sexually assaulting a child has been captured in Maryland, authorities announced. Deputies with the Anne Arundel County Sheriff’s Tactical Response Unit arrested 34-year-old Brian C. Stevenson on Wednesday, Aug. 13, in the 1700 block of Independence Court in Severn. Stevenson was wanted out of Anderson County, Texas, for eight counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and bail jumping – failure to appear (felony), the sheriff’s office said. According to officials, Stevenson was placed on Texas’s Top 10 Most Wanted list in…

by Zak Failla

08/13/2025

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