Latest news with #Doug
Los Angeles Times
5 days ago
- Health
- Los Angeles Times
L.A. homeless population drops again. And yes, there's reason for hope
For nearly two decades, an official count confirmed what all of us could see: more and more people living on sidewalks, streets and other marginal spaces all over Los Angeles County. So it felt like only good news this week when the county's homeless agency announced a 4% decline in the homeless population and a 10% decline in those living in the street. To go a bit deeper than the numbers, I got hold of my colleague, Doug Smith. A deep thinker who's covered every big story in L.A., Doug has become The Times' foremost expert on homelessness. Here's what the essential Doug Smith had to say: What did you make of the latest figures? I expected it. I drive around a lot, as does [City Hall reporter] Dave Zahniser. We both have seen the difference made by [the city's] Inside Safe and [the county's] Pathway Home programs. Many of the largest encampments have been eliminated. Should we be hopeful that L.A. is finally tackling this problem? The [city and county] programs are very expensive and are barely two years old. The big question is how much more they will be able to expand, or even maintain the number of hotel and motel beds they now have. Does Mayor Karen Bass, or any other individual or group, deserve credit for this decline? She does, but she's not the only one. One of the most important initiatives is Housing for Health, a program created by L.A. County Department of Health Services when Mitch Katz was running it. It targets frequent users of the public health system. Judge Carter has forced the county to create 3,000 new mental health beds (still in the works). [California Community Foundation Chief Executive] Miguel Santana is now on the newly-created housing board that will be Proposition HHH on steroids. Janey Rountree at the California Policy Lab at UCLA has done more than anyone else to make usable information out of the oozing mash of data coming out of homeless services agencies and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. What are a few things that will be needed to keep moving people off the street? We are finally, mercifully, moving beyond the ideology of 'Housing First' as the one and only solution. The system has improved, but is still stuck in the binary thinking of interim vs. permanent housing. When you visit encampments, you quickly identify people for whom neither of those is the right first step. Some need detox and drug treatment, some long-term mental health treatment and some jail. The first two are woefully scarce, so they tend to all end up in jail. There are several valiant private enterprises out there trying to figure out a conventional financing model to build affordable housing. I hope they figure it out. Is there anything the average Angeleno can do? They can pat themselves on the back already for doubling the sales tax. Even if the recent trend continues, it's going to be a long way to 'Problem solved!' Try to be equally empathetic with the people living on the street and the people whose houses and businesses they live in front of. Finally, don't be too harsh in judging those in positions of responsibility who have made only incremental progress. Yes, they're imperfect. But all they have is local levers to budge a problem that has macro social and economic causes. The 2025 Emmy nominations have been announced. The best comedy category is stacked, with fan favorites including 'Abbott Elementary' and 'The Bear.' Who should win? Email us at essentialcalifornia@ and your response might appear in the newsletter this week. On July 17, 1969, the Apollo 11 crew continued their historic journey to the moon, which launched from NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. the day before. On July 20, two of its astronauts became the first people to step on the surface of the moon. For the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, The Times measured the mission by heartbeat. Jim Rainey, staff writerDiamy Wang, homepage internIzzy Nunes, audience internKevinisha Walker, multiplatform editorAndrew Campa, Sunday writerKarim Doumar, head of newsletters How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
Techday NZ
5 days ago
- Business
- Techday NZ
Doug Kurfess joins Globality as Chief Sales Officer to drive AI sourcing
Globality has appointed Doug Kurfess as Chief Sales Officer to head its global sales efforts. Kurfess joins Globality with over two decades of experience in enterprise software sales, having led sales teams at several technology firms. His previous roles include serving as Senior Vice President of Global Sales at Coupa, where he contributed to the company's expansion from USD $40 million in annual recurring revenue to more than USD $750 million. He also worked at Salesforce in a range of sales leadership roles during its early period of substantial growth. Most recently, Kurfess was Chief Revenue Officer at OpenEnvoy, an autonomous finance platform. In his new role at Globality, Kurfess will be responsible for all aspects of the company's worldwide sales function. This will include enterprise sales, business development representatives, revenue operations, and defining the go-to-market strategy. The company's focus is on scaling the adoption of its AI-driven sourcing platform among large enterprises. Globality is the most innovative and impactful sourcing solution in the market - with genuine, native-built AI that has been developed over more than a decade. I have seen firsthand what's possible in this space, and I am confident Globality has the product, people, customer support, and momentum to transform how the world's biggest and best companies buy the goods and services they need. Globality offers an AI-native autonomous sourcing platform that has received several industry recognitions. The company was named Best Technology Provider at the 2024 World Procurement Awards and is noted as the only autonomous sourcing solution featured in the Spend Matters 50 to Know list. Its client base includes major corporates such as Santander, British Telecom, Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price, Tesco, Hewlett Packard, and Invesco, among others. These organisations use Globality's solution to lower costs, improve operational efficiency, and enhance decision-making throughout their procurement processes. Leadership perspectives Joel Hyatt, Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer at Globality, commented on the appointment, highlighting Kurfess's experience in the procurement technology sector and his previous successes scaling sales organisations. Doug's domain expertise in procurement technology and successful stints at Salesforce and Coupa position him to accelerate Globality's mission: transforming how companies better manage all their enterprise spend through the use of Agentic AI-driven autonomous sourcing. Hyatt further stated, "Doug has previously scaled companies in our space from startup to hundreds of millions in revenue - and he believes Globality is on the same path. His deep understanding of our market and commitment to execution will help achieve our ambitious growth goals." Company background Globality was established with the aim of improving the management of enterprise spending by leveraging artificial intelligence. Its platform is designed to make sourcing more efficient, fair, and value-oriented, while supporting Fortune 500 clients in reducing costs, streamlining operations, and achieving improved business outcomes. The company's development of AI technology extends over more than a decade, and it continues to expand its offerings to support its global client base. Follow us on: Share on:
Time of India
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Days of Our Lives spoilers: Will Gabi be able to find Holly and Ari before tragedy strikes?
Days of Our Lives spoilers: Days of Our Lives is one of the most popular and keenly followed shows on television today. The long-running soap opera, which first aired in the 60s, remains the top choice of the audience with its twists and compelling character arcs. The latest episode of Days of Our Lives promises to be just as intriguing as the ones before it. Here are some spoilers for the same. Gabi worries about Ari and Holly Ari and Holly went missing on the previous episodes of Days of Our Lives. On the latest installment of the show, Gabi learns that they never made it to the lake. Moreover, the school declares that they are missing. This sends her into a state of panic and she approaches Rafe for help. In reality, the girls have been abducted by a goon who once lent some money to Doug III and now wants it back. Needless to say, they are in grave danger. No one in Salem, however, knows that right now. The girls, for their part, try to escape on their own but that is easier said than done. Tate points fingers at Doug Meanwhile, Tate points fingers at Doug after learning about the girls' disappearance. He has been suspicious of him for a while and finally asks him to come clean. He accuses him of being the cause of the problems they have faced so far. Doug puts up a strong face but eventually begins to crumble. Will he spill the beans on his association with the dangerous man he owes money to? A post shared by Days of our Lives (@dayspeacock) Elsewhere on Days of Our Lives, Sophia tries to fool Amy by cooking up a story. The former wants her to believe that she (Sophia) has already had the baby and given it up for adoption. In reality, she gave birth a few weeks ago. Despite these efforts, Amy remains suspicious Will Johnny be a free man after the trial? Amid all this, Johnny is set to go to trial in the EJ shooting case. Needless to say, EJ and Belle have strong views about and a personal interest in the matter. EJ wants to choose the best possible jury to ensure that his son doesn't end up in more trouble. Belle too, wants to help her nephew but her hands are tied as she is the District Attorney. Will Johnny walk free under these circumstances? Watch the episode to know more. Days of Our Lives is available to stream on Peacock.
CTV News
14-07-2025
- Automotive
- CTV News
How car thieves are making a profit without actually stealing a vehicle
Thieves are able to steal and resell cars without needing to taker the physical vehicle. (CTV News Toronto) Car thieves carried out a successful heist at an Ontario car dealership in September of 2020, making off with what they needed despite leaving a luxury vehicle sitting in the showroom. That's because the target was never the black Mercedes G Squared SUV, but its unique vehicle identification number (VIN), according to the Oakville-based dealer, Doug, who was wary of using his last name in an interview with CTV News. He said he found out when trying to transfer the vehicle into a customer's name at a Service Ontario, only to find out that the thieves had already assumed ownership of the car—at least on paper. 'We go there to put in a transfer,' Doug said. 'They say, 'Sorry, this car doesn't belong to you.' Meanwhile, it's been sitting in our showroom for quite a while.' Documents showed the car had been transferred to another company in 2020—documents that were obviously forged, Doug said. 'There's 35,000 kilometres on it, which for sure is not our car, because our car had no kilometres on it,' he said. Doug believes at some point thieves entered the showroom just to write down the car's VIN, so they could use it to register a similar car that had been stolen. 'They took our car's serial number, and put it on a stolen car,' he said. VIN theft Oakville-based car dealer, Doug, was initially unable to sell a black Mercedes G Squared SUV because its VIN had been stolen and used. (CTV News Toronto) Each car has its own 17 digit VIN, which can usually be found behind the windshield on the driver's side of the vehicle. It's used as a way to track the history of that specific car. But, fraudsters can apply a legitimate car's VIN to a stolen car in an attempt to disguise it and sell it in a process called re-vinning. While that means a sale can go through, it usually causes headaches for the buyer and the owner of the vehicle. New tools aim to help victims of VIN fraud Complaints of re-vinning are on the rise, according to Carfax, a company that sells vehicle history reports. 'It's definitely a scenario where one VIN is living two lives,' Carfax president Shawn Vording told CTV News. He said in some cases, innocent consumers have had their VIN used as a donor to register a stolen vehicle, which is often exported, though sometimes continues to be driven around the country. The company has estimated that there are more than 140,000 potentially cloned VINs driving Canadian streets, many of them likely stolen cars that have been sold, with the profits often going to organized criminals. Carfax has launched new monitoring tools that can alert a customer if there is any activity on their VIN, and if the customer doesn't recognize it, they can investigate. Vording says he hopes that the tool can detect any potential VIN fraud early, before any sales or transfers are disrupted. Carfax is also putting export data from the Canada Border Services Agency into its reports to watch for cars that have been disguised and then exported, while the donor VIN remains in the country. 'VIN fraud costs consumers a lot of money. We're hoping we can make a difference by mitigating the amount of fraud that happens. And if we can do something as a business to help defund organized crime, that's good for society overall,' Vording said. The provincial government has tightened up the system to register a car in the wake of a wave of an increase in car theft that has swept the nation. Around 69,000 cars were stolen across Canada in 2024, leading to more than a billion dollars in insurance losses. Police also laid several charges against Service Ontario workers earlier this year. One worker, Tonisha Baird, was convicted for trafficking in stolen vehicles, including one she was arrested while driving. But critics worry that despite recent changes, there aren't enough barriers to prevent thieves from using the province's car registration system to their advantage. 'It shouldn't be so easy for people to be able to steal a car, get it registered, and supposedly legitimized and then get it sold on our streets,' said NDP MPP Jennifer French. Documents involved in the transfer of the Mercedes G Squared from Doug's dealership led to a company whose director was initially charged in a shooting in Yorkville in 2016. Those charges were dropped, and in response to a subsequent lawsuit, Toronto Police Service admitted in legal filings there were problems in the investigation. CTV News tried the man at several different addresses, but couldn't reach him. His lawyer wasn't available for comment. The forgeries were obvious enough that Doug doubts that the Service Ontario employee made a mistake. 'You'll never stop this if they have someone crooked working in the license bureau, and that's what they've been combatting,' he said. With the help of Toronto police, an inspection of the G Squared SUV showed that it was the true vehicle that was tied to the VIN in question, and the transfer to the customer eventually went through.
GMA Network
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- GMA Network
Kendra Kramer pens touching message for dad Doug on his birthday
Kendra Kramer made sure to honor her dad, Doug Kramer, on his birthday with an Instagram post. Posting photos with her dad through the years, the 16-year-old social media star greeted Doug, calling he "the greatest dad anyone could ever ask for!' 'Thank you for being very supportive when it comes to being with me in my work, events, and sports," Kendra added. 'Will always love our kwento sessions together. I appreciate you and love you lots.' Doug said in the comments section, 'Love my Kenny forever.' Kendra and Doug have a close relationship, with Kendra writing on Instagram the athlete is 'the best dad' and her inspiration. The father and daughter have been spotted attending high-fashion events and touring the Pixar Headquarters in California. Doug and Chesca Garcia have two more kids, Scarlett and Gavin. — Nika Roque/LA, GMA Integrated News
