Cal Poly fired its football coach

Author

Carly Heltzel
December 01, 2025

Good morning. It’s Monday, and I’m reading about 138 of the best Cyber Monday deals. Onto the five Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

Cal Poly fired its football coach after a season that can only be described as abysmal. With just 10 wins, only five of which were against teams in our conference, and 24 losses, the season concluded as another display of Cal Poly’s below-average football program. Ironically, this year Cal Poly placed the highest it has in the Big Sky conference since this coach began in 2022.

2.

After 40 years of volunteering, Cal Poly’s tour guides for incoming students are finally getting paid. The move is intended to compensate students for their work and open the doors to people who wouldn’t have time to volunteer or rely on work study to pay for college. One of the worries was that a paid position would attract people less passionate about showing prospective students the university, but no one has seen a shift like that yet. 

3.

Kristin Smart’s convicted killer, Paul Flores, was denied another attempt to appeal his sentence. He alleged that his trial and his appeal were biased, with overemotional jurors during his trial and key facts omitted in a judge’s decision to deny his first appeal. The court system seems unwilling to take another look at his sentence, which puts him in jail for 25 years to life, and Flores seems intent to try every avenue anyway. 

4.

The shooter who killed four people and injured 10 at a child’s birthday party in Stockton on Saturday has yet to be found. Officials don’t have a motive, but early signs suggest it was a targeted shooting. The shooter opened fire at around 6 p.m. in a banquet hall where family and friends were celebrating, ultimately killing children and an adult ages 8, 9 and 14 and 21.

5.

Downtown SLO won’t charge for parking garages during certain days this month to ease the holiday shopping experience. The free parking will be in effect every Sunday in December, plus Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day. And this Friday, there will be free parking from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. for the 49th Annual Downtown Holiday Parade.