200 gather at local vigil for Minneapolis woman killed by ICE

Author

Carly Heltzel
January 09, 2026

Good morning. It’s Friday, and I’m reading about how dogs can learn new words by eavesdropping on you. Onto the five Cal Poly, SLO and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

Some 200 people gathered in downtown SLO to mourn the Minneapolis woman shot and killed by federal immigration officers on Wednesday. Attendees at last night’s vigil spoke, sang and chanted at the Mission Plaza. One attendee and first generation immigrant said she is afraid of being profiled by ICE even though she is a citizen, and this incident makes her fear protesting ICE activity. “If it can happen to her, it could happen to anyone,” she said. 

2.

Cal Poly Rose Float won the top award at the Rose Parade in Pasadena for the first time in the program’s 77-year history. The Sweepstakes Award went to the team’s “Jungle Jumpstart” float, which depicted a “Wild Robot”-esc scene with animals gathered around trying to fix a robot in nature. It’s been decades since a non-professionally-made float won the Sweepstakes Award, the team’s president said, and they couldn’t believe it when they won. 

3.

Rattlesnakes don’t often garner sympathy from the public, but one Cal Poly biology professor’s project is changing that. Her team runs Project RattleCam, a website that streams footage from two rattlesnake dens in Colorado and California, except during hibernation in the winter months. RattleCam-lovers have named the snakes based on their unique patterns and mourned the deaths of their favorite ones, an “incredible” show of empathy for the snakes.

4.

Seen ads urging you to visit Morro Bay? That could be a part of the city’s tourism push after a downturn in tourism revenue last summer. Tourism was down 7% to 10% from Tourism officials believe cooler weather in the Central Valley and Highway 1 blocking coastal road trippers from the north contributed to the slump. International travellers, who make up 10% to 15% of the usual crowd, were also down 5% to 7%.

5.

Money Inc named three SLO County towns on its new list of the “most peaceful places” in California. At No. 19, Paso Robles’ wine country culture brings a “quieter pace of life.” At No. 18, SLO is said to have “youthful energy” from Cal Poly, but not enough to disturb the community’s “peaceful character.” Highest on the list at No. 4 is Cambria, a Big Sur-adjacent town described as a “genuine retreat from urban intensity,” and without all the tourism.