Former Cal Poly VP accused of molesting a child

Author

Carly Heltzel
October 28, 2025

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, and I’m playing SFGate’s new California-themed mini crossword. Onto the five Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

A former Cal Poly associate vice president was accused of committing a lewd and lascivious act on a child under 14. He also currently serves as the executive director of Bike SLO County. The 69-year-old man avoided arrest by posting a $100,000 bond and pleaded not guilty to the crimes that allegedly occurred in March of this year. He initially worked at Cal Poly from 1998 to 2005, returning from 2014 to 2015 when he served as associate vice president of development and ran fundraising campaigns.

2.

Cal Poly Dream Center platformed student panelists during its second annual “State of Immigration” event — it would have happened simultaneous to U.S. Customs and Border Protection recruiting at last Wednesday’s career fair if the government shutdown hadn’t inhibited CBP’s presence. All of the panelists condemned Cal Poly for allowing CBP to recruit and one expressed disappointment that the cancelation wasn’t due to administration’s policy. “Students should be able to decide who’s at the career fair,” she said.

3.

Authorities found a dead body in the water in Pismo Beach on Sunday, later identified as a 40-year-old woman from Nipomo. Officials won’t know the cause of death until the autopsy report is released, but the surf swell was significant that day, reaching with 4- to- 10-feet tall waves. The rescue operation began after someone spotted a body floating below Ventana Grill around 12:30 p.m.

4.

Republicans have barely raised one-tenth of the $100 million they promised to gather to fight Proposition 50, the state redistricting measure for this year’s special election that seems increasingly likely to pass. Democrats and Republicans each pledged $100 million and Democrats are at about $77.5 million a week away from election night. Other opposition groups, including ones that bill themselves as nonpartisan advocates for independent districting committees, have raised more then $30 million.

5.

A Cal Poly senior spent the past two summers in Palestine, documenting what he saw and experienced in the West Bank, compiling it into videos and posting it to his project’s Instagram account. He came face-to-face with death on multiple occasions, witnessing the killing of a prominent Palestinian activist, being shot at, being warned off stretches of road in active combat zones and more. But some of the most impactful stories to him were those of the “constant abuse” Palestinians experience daily from Israeli settlers.