SLO voter guide missing one party's endorsements

Author

Carly Heltzel
May 15, 2026

Good morning. It’s Friday, and I’m reading about the not-so-charming castle AirBnb in Joshua Tree. Onto the five Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

SLO County sent out voter guides that are missing the endorsements of one of the parties: the American Independents. Officials called it an “administrative error” in which one staffer forgot to send the email attachment with the official endorsements so it wasn’t in the proper folder when they made the guide. Now they’re mailing out postcards with the correction and pushing out the full endorsement lists on social media and their website. 

2.

The search continues for a 76-year-old man who went missing near Pirate’s Cove on Tuesday. He was declared missing after he didn’t show up to pick up his friend from the train station, and authorities found his car unoccupied at the Cave Landing parking lot. Search and rescue teams have been scouring the area ever since and have yet to find him. They are now following up with witnesses and other leads.

3.

The parents of a UCSB student who was raped and strangled last week are searching for any leads to find their 18-year-old daughter’s attacker. The campus police now handed the case off to the Santa Barbara County sheriff for a wider and more in-depth investigation. The victim had met the person at a Sigma Pi party and returned to the on-campus dorms where she was attacked. 

4.

Hospitals are scrambling to apply for a new $25 million state-funded grant that went from bill introduction to law in less than a week. The blistering speed of the process meant lawmakers only loosely defined criteria for the grant, making it unclear how many hospitals are eligible and if the money will actually be enough to tide budgets over into the new fiscal year this July. The hospitals must have less than 10 days cash on hand and half their patients on government-funded insurance to qualify.

5.

One guy on Cal Poly’s beach volleyball roster has beachy golden waves in his… fur. That’s right. Hercules, or Herc for short, is an Irish setter golden retriever mix that’s officially listed as “Director of Player Morale” on the athletics website — with his bio noting he loves playing in the sand and make new friends. His owner is a fifth-year player on the team who got the certified service dog her sophomore year during mental health struggles. But now he’s been helping the whole team.