Faculty housing on Grand to open starting July

Author

Carly Heltzel
May 06, 2026

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, and I’m reading about how the downtown SLO pastry chef did in the Ultimate Baking Champion finals. Onto the five Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

Cal Poly is building 34 homes for faculty and staff members just beyond the Yosemite dorms on Grand Avenue. The first phase of the Vista Meadows project will open this July, and it will fully open in November. As Cal Poly rapidly outgrows its campus and, soon, city, administrators are hoping the development will give their employees the chance to live close to campus. Neighbors and nearby schools are worried about added traffic congestion, but city officials say it’s too small to have an impact.

2.

Launch and Ladder is now closed, shutting its doors yesterday after a final “$ Beer Tuesday.” The craft beer pub opened in 2023 from the same guy who puts on the SLO Craft Beer Fest annually. It touted itself as the closest bar to Cal Poly’s campus and focused on drawing college students in with events each night of the week, and is now up for sale on Facebook Marketplace for $35,000, catering license included. 

3.

A sushi spot in SLO was busted for serving alcohol to 29 minors with fake IDs at one time last month. Two state agents went undercover at HaHa Sushi and Ramen and saw “youthful” individuals before calling for backup for the SLO Police. All individuals got cited and six got arrested for possession of alcohol. HaHa will likely go through the state review process for their alcohol license now. 

4.

State Farm could owe up to $4.3 million in fines and risk getting its license to operate in California revoked after allegedly mishandling insurance claims for homes after the Los Angeles fires last year. The state’s insurance commissioner said State Farm “delayed, underpaid, and buried policyholders in red tape at the worst moment of their lives.” State Farm is the largest property insurer in California and it argues the state is overreacting and banning them would cripple an already fraught insurance market. 

5.

Cal Poly is hosting its third free thrift store pop-up this Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Green Campus collected donations to put together the small store, called The Loop, in Cal Poly’s Surplus Building. One person living on campus said it gives her a feasible way to reach affordable clothing and others said it was a great place to donate clothes they’ve been meaning to get rid of.