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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

Politics
High Hopes: DC Congresswoman Wants Marijuana Display In US Botanic Garden High Hopes: DC Congresswoman Wants Marijuana Display In US Botanic Garden
High Hopes: DC Congresswoman Wants Marijuana Display In US Botanic Garden A DC Congresswoman is being blunt about things with her colleagues: she wants the United States Botanic Garden to feature a marijuana display. With cannabis slowly reaching legal status in more states, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton said that it could provide an educational opportunity to display different plants at the garden in the Capitol. Currently, 22 states and Washington, DC have legalized recreational marijuana. Norton’s call to the House comes on the heels of the Botanic Garden beginning to display hemp for the first time, a move the Congresswoman previously supported. 
“As …

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by Zak Failla
News
Woman 'Sexually Attracted To Children' Gets Prison Time For Toddler Porn In MD Woman 'Sexually Attracted To Children' Gets Prison Time For Toddler Porn In MD
Woman 'Sexually Attracted To Children' Gets Prison Time For Toddler Porn In MD Federal officials say that a woman who claimed to be sexually attracted to children will spend years behind bars after being busted with a host of child porn files following an investigation that was launched by a man in Washington, DC. Shemara Shay Mack-Smith, 42, of Accokeek, was sentenced to 108 months in prison, followed by 120 months of supervised release for the distribution of child pornography, federal authorities announced. Mack-Smith set her own downfall in motion in late April 2020, when a concerned citizen who met her at a home in DC alerted the police that she had showed him c…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Shooter At Large After Man Found Fatally Shot In Baltimore's Seton Hill Neighborhood: Police Shooter At Large After Man Found Fatally Shot In Baltimore's Seton Hill Neighborhood: Police
Shooter At Large After Man Found Fatally Shot In Baltimore's Seton Hill Neighborhood: Police A 32-year-old man died after being shot in the chest during an overnight incident in Baltimore, police say. At approximately 12:20 a.m. on Saturday, May 20, officers from the Baltimore City Police Department’s Central District were called to the 700 block of Pennsylvania Avenue in the Seton Hill neighborhood, where there was a report of a man who had just been shot. Upon arrival, officers found the unresponsive man - whose name has not been released pending notification of next of kin - suffering from the gunshot wound. He was rushed to an area hospital by paramedics where he later died fro…

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by Zak Failla
Traffic
Fatal I-270 Police Pursuit That Left Distressed Driver Dead Under Investigation By Maryland AG Fatal I-270 Police Pursuit That Left Distressed Driver Dead Under Investigation By Maryland AG
Fatal I-270 Police Pursuit That Left Distressed Driver Dead Under Investigation By Maryland AG The Maryland Attorney General’s Office has launched an investigation into a fatal police pursuit that left one dead and two injured in Montgomery County on Saturday morning. At approximately 5 a.m. on Saturday, May 20, officers from the Montgomery County Department of Police were called to the area of Rockledge Drive in North Bethesda, to conduct a welfare check following reports of an unresponsive man in a vehicle. When officers made contact with the driver, he proceeded to flee north on I-270 before crashing just minutes later in the express lanes south of Route 28. The driver - who has…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Massive Blaze Breaks Out In Same DC Building As Famed 2007 Four-Alarm Fire Massive Blaze Breaks Out In Same DC Building As Famed 2007 Four-Alarm Fire
Massive Blaze Breaks Out In Same DC Building As Famed 2007 Four-Alarm Fire Some DC firefighters got a wicked case of deja vu as they battled a two-alarm blaze atop the same building where a four-alarm fire in 2007 sparked that took out the entire top floor. Dozens are displaced on Saturday, May 20, a day after fire crews responded to a massive roof deck fire on top of a five-story Avalon condo building in the 2600 block of Adams Mill Road NW in Adams Morgan that broke out late on Friday afternoon. Update 2 Alarm fire 2600 block Adams Mill Rd NW. Fire is under control. No injuries reported. We are working to determine the number of displacements. Aggressive fir…

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by Zak Failla
News
US Army National Guardsman, Former MD Police Officer Sentenced For Infant, Toddler Porn US Army National Guardsman, Former MD Police Officer Sentenced For Infant, Toddler Porn
US Army National Guardsman, Former MD Police Officer Sentenced For Infant, Toddler Porn Federal officials say that a former police officer in Maryland who joined the US Army National Guard will spend years in prison after being busted with thousands of child pornography charges. Daniel Morozewicz, 38, of Frederick, was sentenced in federal court to 42 months in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release for the possession of child pornography. Prosecutors say that between September 2020 and January 2021, while employed as a police officer in Rockville and an Army National Guardsman, Morozewicz received, possessed, and distributed child porn torrents over the Interne…

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by Zak Failla
News
Brother Who Butchered Sleeping Young Sister, Cousins In Cold Blood In MD Gets Life Sentences Brother Who Butchered Sleeping Young Sister, Cousins In Cold Blood In MD Gets Life Sentences
Brother Who Butchered Sleeping Young Sister, Cousins In Cold Blood In MD Gets Life Sentences The Maryland man who violently killed three young girls, including his sister in Prince George's County while they were asleep, has been hit with several life sentences, the state's attorney's office announced. Clinton resident Antonio Shark Williams was sentenced to multiple life sentences on Friday, May 19, for the murders of his 6-year-old sister, and two visiting cousins who he was taking care of while his mother went to work.  In August 2017, Williams, then 25, was tasked by his mother with watching his 6-year-old sister, Nadira Withers, and New Jersey cousins Ajayah Decree, 6, and Ar…

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by Zak Failla
News
Murder-For-Hire Schemer Charged For Conspiracy To Take Out Witness In MD: Feds Murder-For-Hire Schemer Charged For Conspiracy To Take Out Witness In MD: Feds
Murder-For-Hire Schemer Charged For Conspiracy To Take Out Witness In MD: Feds A federal grand jury has indicted a man implicated in a murder-for-hire conspiracy as he sought to take out a witness cooperating with law enforcement in Maryland. Baltimore resident Matthew Hightower, 41, is facing life in prison after being charged for his role in the murder of Latrina Ashburne in May 2016 before she was able to testify against him in a different case. According to the indictment, Hightower conspired to, and did kill Ashburne with the intent to retaliate against her for providing tips to investigators relating to the commission of a federal crime. Prosecutors say that t…

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by Zak Failla
Traffic
Horse And Buggy Struck By DUI Driver Sends Three Children To Hospital In MD: State Police Horse And Buggy Struck By DUI Driver Sends Three Children To Hospital In MD: State Police
Horse And Buggy Struck By DUI Driver Sends Three Children To Hospital In MD: State Police One child had to be airlifted and two others rushed to Maryland hospitals after their family’s horse and buggy was involved in a crash in Carroll County on Friday morning. Five people were injured during an early morning chain-reaction crash on Friday in Westminster, when an allegedly drunk driver set off series of events that led to the children’s injuries, state police say. Shortly before 12:30 a.m. on Friday, May 19, troopers were called to Route 95 south near Route 496, when a Kia being driven by Manchester resident Maura Onksy, 23, rear-ended the buggy before caroming into a Ford-F-150…

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by Zak Failla
News
Chemical Leak Reported In Curtis Bay Area In Baltimore: City Officials Chemical Leak Reported In Curtis Bay Area In Baltimore: City Officials
Chemical Leak Reported In Curtis Bay Area In Baltimore: City Officials City officials in Baltimore are cautioning area residents about a chemical leak that was reported in the Curtis Bay area on Friday. Councilwoman Phylicia Porter confirmed on Friday, May 19, that the leak has reported in the area, and both Mayor Brandon Scott's administration and the Maryland Department of Environment are aware and responding to the situation. "We understand that this is a challenging and concerning time for all residents of Curtis Bay and surrounding communities," she posted on Twitter. "Rest assured that the authorities are working diligently to stabilize the situation an…

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by Zak Failla
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