SLO congressman calls for Noem impeachment

Author

Carly Heltzel
January 26, 2026

Good morning. It’s Monday, and I’m reading about where the “Vanderpump Rules” cast filmed their newest episode in San Luis Obispo County. Onto the five Cal Poly, SLO and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

SLO County’s congressman called for the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in response to recent directions to and comments about ICE. According to the DHS, ICE has taken 118 people in SLO and Santa Barbara Counties, where the vast majority of U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal district lies. Carbajal said that “under Noem’s tenure, our nation has become less safe and more lawless.”

2.

Students are struggling to sleep and study in their dorms while construction goes on all day behind the Red Bricks, starting at 7 a.m. each morning. People are rerouted daily on their way to classes to avoid construction, and common rooms are no longer a popular study spot because of the noise, often opting instead for the University Union. “I bought AirPods to sleep with but it’s still pretty loud, enough to wake me up,” one student said.

3.

SLO City Council decided to opt out of a county-wide letter calling for the continued operation of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, instead choosing to writes its own letter in support of reinstating a tax on PG&E, the plant’s operator that has benefitted SLO’s school district for years. The tax ended this year and state assemblyman John Laird said he will introduce a bill this year that will reinstate the tax. 

4.

The U.S. Department of Justice backed down from requesting the medical records and personal information of transgender youth at a Los Angeles children’s hospital after seven families sued the DOJ in November. More than 3,000 young patients were at risk of having their records scrutinized for “healthcare fraud” and “false statements,” but the DOJ didn’t have any probable cause that this segment of patients had any issues. “It was basically a fishing expedition,” one lawyer said.

5.

Outside of a tattoo shop in San Francisco, a payphone that’s been painted bright red sits under a small banner that reads “Call a Republican.” It connects to a blue payphone labeled “Call a Democrat” in one of the most conservative towns in America: Abilene, Texas. The installation, meant to generate empathy for the other end of the line, has generated more chatter online than on the actual phone. People seem to like their conversations, but it’s not bridging any ideological divides.