Senior writer Doug Smith scouts Los Angeles for the ragged edges where public policy meets real people, combining data analysis and gumshoe reporting to tell L.A. stories through his more than 50 years of experience covering the city. As past database editor from 2004 through 2015, he hunted down and analyzed data for news and investigative projects. Besides “Grading the Teachers,” he contributed to investigations of construction abuse in the community college system and the rising toll of prescription drug overdoses. Smith has been at The Times since 1970, covering local and state government, criminal justice, politics and education. He was the lead writer for Times’ coverage of the infamous North Hollywood shootout, winner of a 1997 Pulitzer Prize. Between 2005 and 2008, Smith made five trips to Iraq on loan to our foreign desk.
Latest From This Author
The VA’s practice of outsourcing construction on its West L.A. campus discriminates against disabled veterans whose compensation disqualifies them for the housing, a judge rules.
July 15, 2024
A Santa Barbara County wildfire in the mountains above the Santa Ynez Valley has spread to more than 19,000 acres, causing evacuations near vineyards and Neverland Ranch.
July 7, 2024
More than 70 were detained after a crowd of 200 grew unruly at SouthBay Pavilion mall in Carson on Saturday evening, setting off fireworks and lighting a trash can on fire.
July 7, 2024
The region’s politicians have offered varying reactions to the decision, with some voicing relief and others worrying about an influx of homeless residents.
July 7, 2024
The 2024 homeless count found the number of people living on Los Angeles city and county streets declined after five years of increases.
June 28, 2024
Slow reimbursement of government contracts forces a South Los Angeles home for ex-prisoners to bleed interest to predatory lenders. A small nonprofit proposes to close the payment gap with no-interest loans.
June 24, 2024
As head of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, Va Lecia Adams Kellum has the daunting challenge of uniting a fractured network of service providers.
June 23, 2024
Bob Zaugh was one of many young men who resisted the U.S. military draft during the Vietnam War. How a tough federal judge handled his case changed both of their lives.
June 14, 2024
Step Up on Second, a homeless housing and services provider, received $2.7 million in future “profit” from the developer of seven state-funded Project Homekey motel conversions, court records say.
June 7, 2024
The Weingart Center Assn. will soon begin placing homeless people in a 278-unit tower, part of a project it hopes will change the skyline and ambience of Skid Row.
June 5, 2024