AI-powered tool helps homeless residents

Author

Carly Heltzel
January 12, 2026

Good morning. It’s Monday, and I’m reading about the highlights from the Golden Globes last night. Onto the five Cal Poly, SLO and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

Homeless and at risk residents can now ask an AI-powered tool what resources are available for food, shelter and a slough of other services in SLO County. Shower the People, a local nonprofit that brings mobile showers for residents who need them, developed the program based on resource cards they hand out at their shower trailers. They’ve been accumulating information about the county’s resources, now hoping to spread it more widely.

2.

A coalition of 14 Central Coast organizations is demanding the SLO County officials declare a state of emergency over recent ICE activity in the area — adding that officials need to implement measures to protect residents from ICE’s “unlawful, unaccountable and uncontrollable actions.” The group also wants the county to adopt an ordinance that bars federal law enforcement from going on private property without a warrant.

3.

Nearly half the student body at Cal States is Latino, yet there are persistently less than 15% Latino faculty. Within that percent, most are part time lecturers on a lower pay scale. The lack of representation often leads to students seeking mentorship from a small pool of faculty who look like them, adding to the workloads of Latino professors. The bottleneck could come from a lack of Latinos in grad school and PhD programs feeding the positions. 

4.

Yosemite got rid of the reservation requirement during annual Firefall, when the sunset illuminates a waterfall to make it look like its on fire. People flock from around the world to view the phenomenon, which is from Feb. 10 and Feb. 26 this year, drawing concerns that the park could be overrun without the usual guardrails. The overcrowding typically comes at the detriment to the surrounding nature, and one conservation leader said she was disappointed that “commercial interests” are taking priority.

5.

After a school district in Guadalupe lost its music program, a local nonprofit founded by local musicians filled the gap, teaching kids instruments, pitch and having some after school fun. The county-wide nonprofit was founded 12 years ago to honor the brother of one of the musicians and promote accessibility for these lessons. Parents have said the lessons learned through music have translated into other subjects and the website said kids “become confident, inspired and engaged.”