Zak Failla

Assistant Managing Editor

zfailla@dailyvoice.com

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

Storm With Gusty Winds Leads To Power Outages In Westchester, Putnam Storm With Gusty Winds Leads To Power Outages In Westchester, Putnam
Storm With Gusty Winds Leads To Power Outages In Westchester, Putnam Some Westchester and Putnam County residents were left without power following the latest storm to bring whipping winds to the region. As of 2:15 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 12, Con Edison crews were working to repair active outages that were impacting 195 of the company's 360,045 Westchester customers. Central Hudson utility crews are working to repair more than 800 outages in Putnam. NYSEG was also reporting 336 customers without power in Putnam and 306 in Westchester. Outages were being reported in: Bedford: 170; Pound Ridge: 146; Putnam Valley: 116; Southeast: 23; Kent: 7; Lewisboro: 2; Ca…
Storm With Gusty Winds Leads To Power Outages In Massachusetts Storm With Gusty Winds Leads To Power Outages In Massachusetts
Storm With Gusty Winds Leads To Power Outages In Massachusetts A storm brought wind gusts approaching 50 mph to New England early in the afternoon, leaving hundreds in Massachusetts without power. In Eastern Massachusetts, 906 of Eversource’s 1.236,280 customers in Eastern Massachusetts were reporting outages as of 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 12, while 580 of the company’s 221,086 Western Massachusetts customers were left in the dark. The most outages were reported in: Westport: 360; Weston: 312; Longmeadow: 160; Milton: 80; Tolland: 59; Windsor: 51; Ashfield: 48; Conway: 46; Gill: 42. A complete list of outages in Massachusetts can be found here. “Wind…
Storm With Gusty Winds Leads To Power Outages On Long Island Storm With Gusty Winds Leads To Power Outages On Long Island
Storm With Gusty Winds Leads To Power Outages On Long Island A storm system with wind gusts approaching 40 mph has left hundreds of Long Island residents in the dark. At approximately 1:45 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 12, PSEG Long Island crews were working to repair 42 active outages that were impacting 1,508 of the company’s 1,173,112 customers in both Nassau and Suffolk counties. The bulk of the outages were reported in Suffolk, where there were 1,499 customers without power, while just nine in Nassau - less than five each in Hempstead, North Hempstead, and Oyster Bay - were reported during the outset of the storm. Related story - Coast-To-Coast System …
Storm With Gusty Winds Leads To Power Outages In Fairfield County Storm With Gusty Winds Leads To Power Outages In Fairfield County
Storm With Gusty Winds Leads To Power Outages In Fairfield County Thousands in Connecticut have lost power as a storm with gusty winds rolled through the region, bringing down tree branches and power lines. As of 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 12, Eversource was reporting that 10,170 of the company’s 1,287,329 customers were without power, representing less than 1 percent. United Illuminating was also reporting five active outages, impacting 19 customers. “Winds are picking up across the state. We’re beginning to see some damage to the electric system caused by trees toppling over, like here on Village Drive in Ledyard (above),” Eversource posted on social m…
Antisemitic Comments At Planning Board Meeting In Hudson Valley Spark Outrage Antisemitic Comments At Planning Board Meeting In Hudson Valley Spark Outrage
Antisemitic Comments At Planning Board Meeting In Hudson Valley Spark Outrage The is outrage in the Hudson Valley after hate speech was spewed at a community meeting. In Rockland County, a Haverstraw Planning Board meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 10 was interrupted by disparaging comments by a local resident about the growing Orthodox Jewish community. “A certain sect of people tend to walk in the street, and nobody is wearing any reflective gear,"  the unidentified man reportedly said. "So if I run one of them over, and of course, I’m going back over them again." The comments drew swift and decisive backlash from elected officials, from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul …
Fire Fully Engulfs Long Island Residence, Damages Neighboring House, Police Say Fire Fully Engulfs Long Island Residence, Damages Neighboring House, Police Say
Fire Fully Engulfs Long Island Residence, Damages Neighboring House, Police Say Dozens of firefighters worked overnight to extinguish a fire that broke out and fully engulfed a Long Island home. First responders in Nassau County responded to a Bayview Avenue home in Wantagh shortly before 3:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 12, where there was a report of a home fully engulfed in flames. Upon arrival, police said that the residents had already safely evacuated the home. Crews from the Wantagh Fire Department and Massapequa Fire Department worked to quickly extinguish the fire, with five trucks and 35 firefighters responding to the scene. The heat from the fire also damaged a…
Man Accused Of Making Death Threat To GOP NY Congressman Over Support For Infrastructure Bill Man Accused Of Making Death Threat To GOP NY Congressman Over Support For Infrastructure Bill
Man Accused Of Making Death Threat To GOP NY Congressman Over Support For Infrastructure Bill A New York man is facing charges after allegedly making a death threat toward a Long Island Congressman who was one of 13 House Republicans to support President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. In Nassau County, detectives arrested Lake Ronkonkoma resident Kenneth Gasper, age 64, on Wednesday, Nov. 10 following an investigation into a threat made toward Republican Congressman Andrew Garbarino. Garbarino represents the southwest portion of South Shore in Suffolk County and a small portion of southeastern Nassau County on Long Island. He was one of 13 GOP lawmakers t…
Police Investigate Social Media Threat To Northern Westchester High School Police Investigate Social Media Threat To Northern Westchester High School
Police Investigate Social Media Threat To Northern Westchester High School Police in Northern Westchester are investigating a social media threat reportedly made by a student threatening violence. Ossining Schools Superintendent Raymond Sanchez and Police Chief Kevin Sylvester issued a joint statement early on Friday, Nov. 12 cautioning the community that a social media post threatening the high school was being investigated. “Late on Thursday (Nov. 11) night we were alerted to the existence of a social media post from a person purporting to be a student at Ossining High School,” they noted. “In this post, the author threatens violence against the school and stude…
Man Nabbed For DUI After Vehicle Crosses Double-Yellow Line In Fairfield County, Police Say Man Nabbed For DUI After Vehicle Crosses Double-Yellow Line In Fairfield County, Police Say
Man Nabbed For DUI After Vehicle Crosses Double-Yellow Line In Fairfield County, Police Say A swerving driver was busted in Fairfield County with a blood alcohol concentration more than triple the legal limit after being caught by an officer crossing over a double-yellow line into the opposite lane of traffic, police said. A Darien police officer on patrol shortly after 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 7 on Post Road reported that he spotted a vehicle traveling westbound crossing over into the double-yellow line into the eastbound lane, prompting a traffic stop. During the subsequent stop, the officer said that the driver, Stamford resident Edgar Lima-Barrera, age 43, had the smell of alcoh…
COVID-19: Families Of Unvaccinated Could Be Denied Death Benefits COVID-19: Families Of Unvaccinated Could Be Denied Death Benefits
Covid-19: Families Of Unvaccinated Could Be Denied Death Benefits The fallout of a fatal case of COVID-19 could lead to further financial repercussions for some workers who refuse to get vaccinated against the virus. According to multiple reports, the New York MTA has become the latest to announce that it will not pay a $500,000 death benefit to the families of employees who die of the virus who were unvaccinated at the time of their death. Previously, the death benefit payment was available to any MTA worker who had died from COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status. The MTA hadn’t previously held the hard stance until vaccines became more widely avai…
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