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Thursday, jun 19

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

Former Resident In Region Sentenced For Charges Related To Sham Marriage A former Western Massachusetts resident has been sentenced for entering into a sham marriage to obtain immigration benefits for another person. Phu Thanh Huynh, age 33, formerly of Springfield, has been sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay a $20,000 forfeiture after admitting to marrying a Vietnamese national in 2013. In September 2013, federal prosecutors said that Huynh married a Vietnamese national, referred to as Jane Doe, solely for the purpose of obtaining immigration benefits for Doe, never living together after the sham marriage. In late 2013 or early 2014, Huynh w…

by Zak Failla

11/24/2021

News

Covid-19: CT Sees New Rise In Virus Transmissions; Latest Case Breakdown By County, Community In advance of Thanksgiving weekend, Connecticut saw its daily COVID-19 positivity rate spike up near 5 percent as friends and families get ready to celebrate at mass gatherings. In the latest update from the State Department of Health, Connecticut administered 16,255 COVID-19 tests, which resulted in 754 laboratory-confirmed cases for a 4.64 percent positivity rate of those tested. The state has been averaging more than 700 new daily COVID-19 cases over the past week-and-a-half, representing an increase of more than 100 percent over the previous two weeks. Related story - COVID-19: …

by Zak Failla

11/24/2021

News

Covid-19: Hudson Valley Sees New Infection-Rate Increase; Latest Case Breakdown By County The holiday season is here, and health officials in the Hudson Valley are cautioning about another possible winter spike as the infection rate continues to creep upward as Thanksgiving approaches. In the Hudson Valley, the seven-day average positive COVID-19 infection rate continues to climb toward 3 percent according to the latest data from the Department of Health, up to 2.95 of those most recently tested. Statewide, the positivity rate is also up, rising to 3.81 percent, causing concern for some. Twenty-seven new virus-related deaths were reported in New York in the latest update from t…

by Zak Failla

11/24/2021

News

Covid-19: Long Island Sees New Infection-Rate Increase; Latest Case Breakdown By Community The holiday season is here, and health officials on Long Island are cautioning about another possible winter spike as the infection rate continues to creep upward as Thanksgiving approaches. Since topping a 4 percent positive infection rate, the numbers have steadily climbed on Long Island, up to a 4.20 percent seven-day average positive COVID-19 infection rate of those tested, still among the lowest of the state's 10 regions, all of which have seen spikes in virus-related numbers. Statewide, the positivity rate is also up, rising to 3.81 percent, causing concern for some. In Suffolk, 408 …

by Zak Failla

11/24/2021

News

Suffolk County Reports Two More Cases Of West Nile Virus Two new cases of West Nile virus have been confirmed on Long Island, according to the Department of Health. Suffolk County Commissioner of Health Services Dr. Gregson Pigott reported this week that two additional cases of West Nile virus in Suffolk County, bringing the total to seven over the course of the year. According to health officials, the first new case was in the Town of Southold in a resident over the age of 50. He became ill with the virus in early October, was hospitalized later that month, and has since almost fully recovered at home. The second was in the Town of Brookhaven, …

by Zak Failla

11/24/2021

Schools

Racial Remark By Staff Member Prompts Student Walkout, Investigation At School In Westchester Students at a school in the area staged a temporary walkout in solidarity for a classmate after a staffer reportedly made a racially insensitive comment to a student-athlete in Westchester County. An investigation has been launched at Iona Prep in New Rochelle, the school's president, Brother Thomas R. Leto, announced in a statement after the administration was made aware of the comment over the weekend reportedly made on Friday, Nov. 19, reporting it immediately to authorities. In response, on Tuesday, Nov. 23, students staged the brief walkout in support of the student and to speak out a…

by Zak Failla

11/24/2021

Police & Fire

House Fire Breaks Out On Long Island An overnight fire broke out inside a Long Island home, authorities said. According to Nassau County Police Department detectives, officers arrived at a Ronkonkoma Avenue home in the Town of Hempstead in Lakeview at 2 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 24, where there was a working house fire on the second floor. All of the occupants of the Ronkonkoma Avenue residence were able to evacuate the home safely and the Lakeview Fire Department worked quickly to extinguish the flames. No one was injured, said authorities. The Nassau County Fire Marshal was on the scene. The investigation into the cause …

by Zak Failla

11/24/2021

News

Long Island High School Principal Reinstated After Investigation A high school principal on Long Island is back in the building after being temporarily ordered to work from home to allow district officials to investigate his handling of a fight that he had to break up. Longtime Wyandanch High School Principal Paul Sibblies, who has held his post since 2009, was reassigned by the district in October after breaking up a fight between two female students during dismissal where he had to tackle one to help separate the two. Sibblies had denied any wrongdoing since the investigation began. He has not commented since being reinstated. The district launched an…

by Zak Failla

11/23/2021

Police & Fire

Man Killed In Hit-Run Crash In Area A hit-and-run driver in the Hudson Valley is at large after striking and killing an 82-year-old man, officials said. At approximately 7 a.m. in Rockland County, the man was struck on Route 9W near New Main Street in Haverstraw while crossing the street, according to police. The victim, later identified as Juan Alberto Germonsen, lived at the nearby Green Hills Home for Adults. Germonsen was reportedly found lying in the roadway and was rushed to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. The driver never stopped after hitting the pedestrian. The incident led to a lengthy shutdown o…

by Zak Failla

11/23/2021

Police & Fire

Man In Pickup Truck Points Handgun At Woman On I-95, CT State Police Say A gun-wielding man is facing charges in Connecticut after allegedly pointing a handgun at a woman while driving on I-95, State Police announced. Shortly after 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 22, State Police troopers received a report from a driver traveling south on I-95 in New London County in the Town of Old Lyme stating that she had been threatened by the driver of a tan Ram 1500 pickup truck with Maine license plates. According to police, the woman said that while the pick-up truck driver, later identified as Old Lyme resident Noah Jones, age 55, was passing her in the left lane near exit 66, h…

by Zak Failla

11/23/2021

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