Ramona Giwargis

When New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg mounted a short-lived run for president, then-San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo became his campaign co-chair and first major California endorsement. The relationship between the two former mayors has spanned nearly a decade — from Liccardo’s early city hall days to Bloomberg now funding his path to Congress.

When you’re a journalist, ruffling the feathers of politicians and people in power comes with the territory. You might even call it a badge of honor. I once had an editor who assured me that if I wasn’t ticking them off, I wasn’t doing my job. It’s expected and it’s not uncommon. What is uncommon,...

San Jose police have served a search warrant on Councilmember Omar Torres on suspicion of child sexual abuse material and underrage relationships, multiple sources have told San José Spotlight.

Less than 24 hours after San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres was detained and investigated for sexual misconduct involving a minor, he claims he’s being extorted and has lawyered up — and his attorney is a familiar face in political circles.

The criminal investigation related to Councilmember Omar Torres has taken an ugly political turn — with people lining up to either defend or denounce the downtown politician. San José Spotlight knew that would happen when we broke the news Torres was being accused of child sex abuse. What we didn’t expect is San Jose City...

Silicon Valley leaders are reeling after the sudden death of the Rev. Jethroe “Jeff” Moore II, a beloved civil rights activist who devoted his life to fighting for social justice and human rights. Moore laid down for a nap a day after Christmas in his favorite chair, friends and family said, and never woke up....

San José Spotlight is one of the first newsrooms across the U.S. to join a landmark initiative to bring impactful nonprofit reporting from Washington, D.C. to our local Silicon Valley audience.

A San Jose politician directed the city to change the email addresses of three staffers who went to work for a colleague, an unusual move that comes after she was accused of turning a blind eye to child sex abuse allegations against a former councilmember. 

San José Spotlight is delighted to announce Omar Habbas as the first major supporter of a new educational initiative to invest in the next generation of journalists in Silicon Valley.  Studies show the U.S. has lost 3,200 newspapers since 2005 – more than one-third of all its newspapers. The decline in local news fosters the...

A group of San Jose politicians allegedly participated in an inflammatory text thread with a disgraced colleague that included racial slurs and derogatory remarks, according to law enforcement sources.