REVIEW

january 1

The free, beloved, annual community splash-in known as the Polar Bear Plunge takes place at noon in Avila Beach as well as Cayucos. Designed to wash away the previous year and make way for a new one ahead, hundreds of locals and visitors ring in 2023 wearing costumes and chilly beach wear during the invigorating plunge on New Year’s Day.

January 11

California’s Supreme Court announces it will not hear arguments about whether SLO County District Attorney Dan Dow should be allowed to prosecute Tianna Arata and six other Black Lives Matter protesters. The decision marks the end of a two-year legal battle that started when SLO Superior Court Judge Matthew Guerrero removed the DA from the case, citing a conflict of interest. The seven defendants were all charged with multiple crimes—including false imprisonment, obstructing a public thoroughfare, and resisting arrest—following a 2020 rally that clashed with motorists on Highway 101. The Office of the California Attorney General will prosecute the case as it moves forward. A pretrial conference is scheduled on February 2 in SLO Superior Court.

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A Cal Poly float, “Road to Reclamation,” wins the 2023 Rose Parade’s Extraordinaire Award, given each year to the creators of the parade’s most extraordinary entry including those fiftyfive feet or longer. Featuring snails, gigantic toadstools, and other marvels of the natural world found on the forest floor, it was the joint creation of students from Cal Poly campuses in San Luis Obispo and Pomona. More than 20,000 flowers and natural materials graced the animated float, intended to reflect the 134th parade’s theme, “Turning the Corner,” exemplifying the unlimited potential that each new year brings.

January 11

The Community Foundation Sa n Luis Obispo County activates its Disaster Support Fund to pool together community funds and distribute them to those most affected by the storms that battered the Central Coast during the early part of January. One hundred percent of contributions to the fund are promised to help communities recover from the impact of record-setting rains, power outages, flooding, mudslides, and other destruction throughout SLO County.

January 12

President Joe Biden declares a state of emergency for San Luis Obispo County and thirteen other California counties as one of several winter storms brings record-breaking rainfall to the area. More than six inches of rain falls on the Cal Poly campus—setting a record for the most rainfall ever in a single day. The wettest spot in SLO County, Rocky Butte, receives almost ten-and-a-half inches over a two-day period, and widespread flooding and mudslides force many to evacuate homes and businesses, with the Red Cross opening evacuation centers in the City of San Luis Obispo and in Paso Robles. SLO LIFE

The Kristin Smart Scholarship Committee announces that applications for 2023 scholarships honoring the slain Cal Poly student are being accepted. Female high school seniors from San Luis Obispo and San Joaquin counties who have an interest in architecture, criminal justice, law enforcement, or international studies may apply to receive a one-time minimum cash grant of $4,000. In 2022, scholarship funds were awarded to five women. To qualify, applicants must be planning to attend a two- or four-year accredited college or university in the 2023-24 academic year, have at least a 3.25 grade point average, and be involved in community service.

The increase in the median sale price for a single-family home in SLO County from November 2021 to November 2022, according to the California Association of Realtors. Among the highest increases in California, the SLO County figure defies the recent cool down of statewide real estate, as well as falling prices in Monterey and Santa Barbara counties.