Multi-car pileup on Highway 101 and a new Nautical Bean. Today’s top stories

The Tribune covered a busy Friday in San Luis Obispo County, with news ranging from a downtown burglary to election updates and a popular coffee shop’s expansion.

Here’s a rundown of the day’s top stories:

• Nautical Bean expands: Nautical Bean is opening its fifth county location in the South Higuera Street space left vacant when Starbucks closed in September 2025. Owner Brett Jones plans to open the new shop the first week of July, as the chain’s cafe inside The Bunker SLO wraps up June 25.
• Highway 101 pileup: A rear-end collision between two vehicles near the Madonna Road off-ramp around 1:30 p.m. Friday triggered a multi-car pileup that snarled northbound traffic through San Luis Obispo. Three additional vehicles crashed minutes later, with backups stretching past the Los Osos Valley Road off-ramp by 2:15 p.m.
• Election update: With about 5,000 ballots left to count, Jimmy Paulding and Jim Dantona both hold leads of seven points or more in their SLO County supervisor races. A Los Osos measure to tax residents to buy an old elementary school and convert it into a park is also passing with 53.8% of the vote.
• Jack House break-in: Blake Robertson, a 35-year-old homeless resident of SLO, was arrested Thursday after allegedly smashing a window with a rock and breaking into the historic Jack House in downtown San Luis Obispo. While officers searched the building, Robertson fell partway through the attic floor in front of police and was booked on suspicion of felony commercial burglary.
• Shell Beach development approved: The Pismo Beach Planning Commission unanimously approved a mixed-use project at 1717 Shell Beach Road featuring seven condos and two commercial spaces. As a condition of approval, the residential units can never serve as vacation rentals, and two of the studio units will be deed-restricted as affordable housing.
• World-class disc golf: The Whale Rock Disc Golf Course at Castoro Cellars in Templeton was named the top winery disc golf course in the world in 2024 by UDisc. The 18-hole, 2-mile course was built about a decade ago and now draws disc golfers traveling from across the country.
• Grover Beach park reopens: Grover Beach unveiled its revitalized Ramona Garden Park on Thursday after a year of construction and $3.3 million in renovations. The park features a new inclusive playground with the only zipline in South County, an upgraded amphitheater with a bandshell and modernized restrooms.
• Cal Poly graduation closures: A total of 7,526 students are graduating from Cal Poly this June, prompting road closures and parking restrictions around campus Saturday and Sunday. California Boulevard, Cuesta Avenue, College Avenue and South Perimeter will be closed, and shuttles will run between parking lots and Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.

This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 6:07 PM.