Good morning. It’s Thursday, and I’m reading about a bear that took over a suburban pool when the residents evacuated — and isn’t leaving anytime soon. Onto the five Cal Poly, SLO and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

A former Cal Poly resident advisor was sentenced to over seven years in state prison for an on-campus assault. He pleaded guilty to assault with the intent to commit rape and first-degree burglary; the victim woke up at 3 a.m. in Poly Canyon Village to the RA holding his hands over her face. In court, the district attorney read out a victim impact statement which detailed how the assault has impacted her life. She said she has been stripped of her confidence and has only been able to sleep with the lights on since the incident. “There are still things I struggle with every day,” she said.

Chloe Jones / The Tribune

2.

Inmates at the California Men’s Colony, SLO’s prison, worked 36-hour shifts to fight the LA fires in January — part of a program called Cuesta Conservation Camp, one of 35 ‘fire camps’ across the state prison system. The firefighters, who have been convicted of crimes like carjacking and residential burglary, get reduced sentences for their service and future job opportunities at Cal Fire once they are out of prison, a source of hope. “This is life-changing,” the program's inmate lead said of the program.

Eduardo Huijon Jr. / KSBY

3.

Cal State LA ranked as the California school with the most upward economic mobility: meaning students who came in low- or moderate-income ended up in a higher bracket. What’s more, nine out of the top 10 schools on the rankings were CSUs. Cal Poly ranked No. 40. And most schools on the top 50 list boosted earnings for a college graduate over $20,000 more than a high school graduate. At a time when people are questioning the enormous price tags of universities, this metric has become increasingly important. 

Daniel Miller / Los Angeles Times

4.

A battery plant in Monterey County burst into flames for the second time in recent weeks, after the smoldering lithium batteries reignited and burned into yesterday morning. The plant stores energy from solar production, but it has a history of safety failures that have caused meltdowns and fires. So far, expert testing says the air quality is safe; heavy metal soil testing will take a few weeks for results. Crews will now begin to “delink” the batteries, which would prevent the fires from spreading across the plant as officials brace for more flare-ups. 

Olivia Hebert / SFGate

5.

Bigfoot could be California’s state cryptid. A cryptid is a creature that people swear is real but there is no evidence to back it up (think Loch Ness Monster or Chupacabra). A state legislator just proposed the bill to tack Bigfoot onto the long list of state mascots from flowers to birds to dinosaurs. The assemblymember’s district includes the so-called Bigfoot capital of the U.S. in Humboldt County where an infamous, grainy minute-long film of the creature was captured in 1967. Humboldt also has the most Bigfoot sightings recorded anywhere in the world.

Nora Mishanec / San Francisco Chronicle