Rodeo tickets sold out in a week

Author

Carly Heltzel
February 19, 2026

Good morning. It’s Thursday, and I’m reading about Carrizo Plain’s newest bout of wildflowers following last week’s storm. Onto the five Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

Poly Royal Rodeo tickets are officially sold out, one week since they went on sale. Last year, the 2,000 tickets available were gone in a record 30 seconds, which lead to the rodeo expanding back into Spanos Stadium and almost than quadrupling its capacity. In the first day of sales this year, 50% of tickets were sold, while Thursday and Sunday’s tickets were listed as “Not many left” after being up for an hour.

2.

The state needs to decide this year whether or not Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant will extend its operations past 2030, a senior director at PG&E, the plant’s operator, said. This is because they must pre-purchase the fuel needed to keep the plant running a few years in advance. A Central Coast water commission is expected to approve two crucial permits that can move the process forward next week.

3.

Jiffy Lube, a Mexican restaurant and a liquor store. That’s what makes up SLO’s historic Japantown today (It still exists on Google Maps). There used to be a thriving strip of Higuera Street the housed a fish and meat market, a grocery store, a barber shop and a hotel, and neighborhood behind it where hundreds of people lived. But the community was gutted during World War II when Japanese Americans were forcibly taken to internment camps. 

4.

California’s parole board is relying on unreliable drug tests to determine whether or not to release someone from prison. Dozens of doctors and advocates are begging them not to. Medical professionals use the tests to gauge progress in a holistic sobering program, but they say some prescription drugs can lead to false positives. That deters prisoners from seeking medical care when needed and prevents them from receiving out of prison addiction help.

5.

In 2025, 44 film productions spent 73 days shooting material in SLO County. A representative for Film SLO CAL said the county’s “distinctive backdrops” and easy permitting process help draw creatives to the region. Here are a few of the highlights: a cinematic commercial for the Audi Q5, the Paso Robles episode of drama-soaked reality show “Vanderpump Rules,” Toyota’s campaign “Made to Conquer” that filmed at Oceano Dunes and YouTuber MrBeast’s video on Jetson One’s “flying cars” around the Pismo area.