President Armstrong to get $100,000 raise

Author

Carly Heltzel
November 20, 2025

Good morning. It’s Thursday, and I’m reading about how to get tickets to Cal Poly alum “Weird Al” Yankovic’s SLO County show next year. Onto the five Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong is getting a $100,000 raise. The Cal State Board of Trustees voted to raise the base salaries of all the university presidents and open up the possibility of up to 15% performance-based bonuses for some, including Armstrong. Over the next two years, Armstrong’s pay will jump to $611,203 making him the highest paid Cal State president, surpassing San Diego State’s. After a tough budget year of program cuts, the system-wide faculty union called the raises unfair and “obscene.”

2.

Campus Dining is offering five new meals this week, based on home recipes from international students for International Education Week. 1901 Kitchen and select Vista Grande locations are serving Ethiopian red lentil stew, Vietnamese curry, Japanese beef rice bowl, Korean BBQ ribs and Brazilian rise pudding. If the dishes are popular enough during this week, Campus Dining may bring back the recipes.

3.

Morro Bay’s old power plant won’t be getting a battery storage facility after all. A huge amount of backlash from residents and permitting red tape lead the company to now confirm they won’t pursue the idea any longer. Last year the company paused its application in an attempt to get state approval and go over the city council’s head. The facility would have powered 450,000 homes, but posed a risk with recent toxic fires at facilities in the state.

4.

California might create a path of legal action against federal immigration enforcement officers who violate individuals’ rights. A new state bill’s author said the Trump administration has been able to “wield unchecked power to illegally kidnap and deport people” with no repercussions for doing their jobs wrong. A report found 170 U.S. citizens were detained illegally, some of whom were shot or beaten. 

5.

Carmel-by-the-Sea is the first city in California to effectively and permanently ban pickleball. City council extended a temporary ban on the city’s only pickleball court. The persistent popping of the whiffle ball hitting plastic paddles drove the neighborhoods wealthy population to madness, and measures to enforce “soft” sounding paddles and balls were not enforceable enough. One resident pleaded that the council’s job was to “protect us” and “not to placate these pickleball enthusiasts.”