Prop 50 will pass in SLO and CA

Author

Carly Heltzel
November 05, 2025

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, and I’m reading about Missy and Kittylicious, winners of The Tribune’s cutest local dog and cat contests. Onto the five Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

Proposition 50 is likely to pass with early voting indicating that 55.5% of Californians are in support of the ballot measure. Some 57% of SLO County voters were in support of Proposition 50 as well, a difference of about 11,000 voters. Mustang News estimates that around 500 people voted at on campus locations yesterday at the University Union and Performing Arts Center, with many of them first time voters at 18 years old. 

2.

Trump threatened to defy a court order that would force him to fund the federal food assistance money that was delayed during the government shutdown. This comes just a day after the White House announced it would use emergency funds to pay out half of everyone’s benefits in November. In California, this money is distributed through CalFresh benefits (a.k.a. EBT), and Cal Poly’s outreach manager is furious. She said “to inflict anxiety, stress, and suffering willingly and unnecessarily unto SNAP recipients is sinister.”

3.

Cal Poly is once again planning a concert-style event to prevent students’ annual massive street party for St. Patrick’s Day, known as St. Fratty’s. At a city council special session the university announced plans to work with ASI and the InterFraternity Council on a new music festival after last year’s event was deemed a success due to significant decreases in vandalism, citations and medical incidents. This year’s will be designed to accommodate more students, targeting a large complaint.

4.

California’s DUI system is broken. Alcohol-related road deaths spiked in the past decade reaching 1,300 people each year. With some of the weakest DUI laws in the country, repeat offenders have more opportunities to stay on the road here than almost any other state. And after a third DUI, California will return licenses in three years, compared to eight years, 15 years and permanent revocations in other states. An investigation found that drunk drivers with as many as six DUIs were able to get a license in California.

5.

Elon Musk released his own version of Wikipedia this week named, you guessed it: Grokipedia. In a review of the platform, one columnist called it a “slurbot,” “half-assed competitor,” “whitewashing machine,” “piece of s—t” and “Musk’s attempt to rewrite the bulk of history to suit his own ends.” Entries on Hitler, slavery and George Floyd’s death minimize these damaging historical events and provide a pretty favorable view for the Neo-Nazis of the world.