@CaltransD5

Follow Caltrans Central Coast on Twitter to keep up on Highway 1’s closure from Ragged Point north of San Simeon to just south of Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn. Repairs to a series of landslides along the scenic road are taking months of work following the severe storms that slammed into the Central Coast the first three months of this year. Electronic signs are in place to warn drivers about closures.

$5,500

The maximum that an individual, business, or political action committee can now donate to a local candidate for office in a county election. In April, the SLO County Board of Supervisors reversed a 2020 decision that set the local donation limit to $25,000. The amount now matches the current state spending limit and will be enforced by the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

15,000

The number of jars of jam Cal Poly food science students produce each year. What began as a food science lab exercise four decades ago has become a successful, studentled, four-flavor commercial enterprise. Find your favorite—olallieberry, raspberry, strawberry, or blackberry—in local grocery stores and on campus.

SLO Mayor Erica Stewart at an April news conference in Sacramento ahead of a gathering of California city, county, and state officials urging Governor Gavin Newsom and lawmakers to provide $3 billion in annual funding to address homelessness. She says the city needs state funding to continue serving unhoused residents.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Brandon Swanson offered some sound advice following another recent sighting of a mountain lion in the Prefumo Canyon area of SLO. Although the big cats typically pose little threat to humans, he said wild animals and their behaviors are unpredictable. Best to stay alert on trails and do not hike, bike, or jog alone at dawn, dusk, or night.

San Luis Obispo County’s rank on the list of fastest growing counties in California between July 2021 and July 2022, with an increase of 2,764—just shy of one percent of the 282,013 total population. According to the Census Bureau, however, the county lost a bit more than one percent of its population between 2020 and 2021, so the net population over a two-year period remains at a loss.

73,113

The record-high number of applications Cal Poly received from hopeful first-time freshman and transfer students wanting to attend the university in fall 2023. That’s up more than seven percent from last year, which was also a new record. A few more spaces are available for applicants thanks to a budget increase for the CSU system, and that could translate into a record enrollment this fall of more than 22,500 students.

$3,036,298

The minimum amount San Luis Obispo County spent to investigate and convict Paul Flores for the murder of Kristin Smart. It’s not the complete financial picture, as not all of the expenditures were tracked, especially in the first years after the Cal Poly student’s disappearance in 1996. More than half of the money was spent in the last five years of the investigation, before Flores was convicted in March 2023.

Two recent training school graduates who joined the California State Parks SLO Coast District in March to help guard Hearst Castle. The pair of German shepherds, both cross-trained in patrol and explosives detection, answer to commands in German, and will accompany their partners, Officer Benjamin Ellis of Morro Bay and Officer Andrew Bampton of Piedras Blancas, on- and off-duty.

The story of a guy who gave up on love and music, and the girl who inspired him to dream again.

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Black and white photography is a way of seeing the world that is both timeless and contemporary. It can be used to capture the beauty of the natural world, the drama of urban landscapes, or the intimacy of everyday moments. When done well, black and white photography can be both artful and evocative.

- Ansel Adams