SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KEYT). - Sophomore Hamad Mousa finished with a game high 26 points Thursday evening and fellow guard Peter Bandelj produced the go-ahead and eventual game-winning layup (left) with 18 seconds remaining as the Cal Poly men’s basketball program resumed Big West play and opened 2026 with a 67-65 victory against defending conference champion UC San Diego.

Bandelj added 15 points for Cal Poly (6-9, 2-1), which snapped UC San Diego’s 16-game winning streak against Big West opponents dating to Jan. 18, 2025.

Held scoreless for the final four minutes, UC San Diego clung to a 65-64 advantage following a missed three-pointer by guard Alex Chaikin with 38 seconds to play. Mustang junior guard Jake Davis rebounded and, following a Cal Poly timeout, Bandelj drove the left baseline with his layup to place Cal Poly in front.

At the other end of Mott Athletics Center, an attempt at the rim from Tritons guard Leo Beath bounded off the iron with Cal Poly sophomore guard Cayden Ward rebounding. Fouled, Ward converted one free throw attempt before a three-pointer from Beath sailed wide at the buzzer.

Prior to the final minute, Cal Poly’s last lead was an 18-16 advantage seven-and-a-half minutes into action. UC San Diego dissolved that edge with a 13-5 run and led by as much as 40-31 two-and-a-half minutes before the break.

Mousa, however, responded for Cal Poly with back-to-back three-pointers and a layup from Ward with a second to go cut UC San Diego’s lead to 42-39 heading into the locker room.

The Tritons, limited to a 21.2 (7-for-33) percent second-half shooting mark, failed to stretch their lead past six points during the second half.

Cal Poly Noteworthy (versus UC San Diego)

Up Next: Cal Poly returns to the road Saturday, Jan. 3, visiting Long Beach State (4-10, 0-2) at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
A double-digit scorer in all 14 appearances, Hamad Mousa retained the Big West scoring lead, improving his average to 21.0 points per game.
Peter Bandelj, meanwhile, moved to fifth among Big West scorers at 16.1 points per game.
Cayden Ward led all players Thursday with a season best 11 rebounds.
Cal Poly’s Thursday win snapped a five-game series slide versus UC San Diego.
The Mustangs, who entered Thursday’s matchup ranked 12th among NCAA Division I programs with 31.7 three-point attempts per game, attempted a season high 42 against UC San Diego.

(Article courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics)

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By Karina Tsui, CNN

(CNN) — A woman was found dead Thursday on a hiking trail in northern Colorado, in what authorities believe to be a rare fatal mountain lion attack.

Hikers on the Crosier Mountain trail in Larimer County spotted a mountain lion near a person lying on the ground around 12:15 p.m., according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

The hikers drove the animal away by throwing rocks before finding the victim had no pulse.

“Mountain lion attacks in Colorado are considered to be very rare,” CPW spokesperson Kara Van Hoose said at a news conference. While 28 previous attacks have been reported to CPW since 1990, the last fatal attack was in 1999, the agency said.

The Larimer County coroner is expected to release the victim’s identity and cause of death, Van Noose said.

CPW, which is leading the investigation, said officers shot at a lion on the scene, and later tracked and euthanized it. Another lion in the area was also euthanized by officers.

Wildlife involved in attacks on humans must be euthanized for public safety, CPW said. The animals will be tested for human DNA to determine whether they were responsible for the attack and will also be examined for any abnormalities or neurological diseases like rabies and avian influenza.

Colorado is home to an estimated 3,800 to 4,000 mountain lions with populations growing since they were classified as a big game species in 1965, according to CPW’s website.

Living mostly in brushy areas and woodlands in low elevation, the animals largely prey on deer and elk.

CPW advises anyone who encounters a mountain lion to make noise, hold objects overhead to appear bigger and slowly back away.

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™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

The post Suspected mountain lion attack in Colorado leaves woman dead appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

KUSA, KMGH, CNN

By Karina Tsui, CNN

(CNN) — A woman was found dead Thursday on a hiking trail in northern Colorado, in what authorities believe to be a rare fatal mountain lion attack.

Hikers on the Crosier Mountain trail in Larimer County spotted a mountain lion near a person lying on the ground around 12:15 p.m., according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

The hikers drove the animal away by throwing rocks before finding the victim had no pulse.

“Mountain lion attacks in Colorado are considered to be very rare,” CPW spokesperson Kara Van Hoose said at a news conference. While 28 previous attacks have been reported to CPW since 1990, the last fatal attack was in 1999, the agency said.

The Larimer County coroner is expected to release the victim’s identity and cause of death, Van Noose said.

CPW, which is leading the investigation, said officers shot at a lion on the scene, and later tracked and euthanized it. Another lion in the area was also euthanized by officers.

Wildlife involved in attacks on humans must be euthanized for public safety, CPW said. The animals will be tested for human DNA to determine whether they were responsible for the attack and will also be examined for any abnormalities or neurological diseases like rabies and avian influenza.

Colorado is home to an estimated 3,800 to 4,000 mountain lions with populations growing since they were classified as a big game species in 1965, according to CPW’s website.

Living mostly in brushy areas and woodlands in low elevation, the animals largely prey on deer and elk.

CPW advises anyone who encounters a mountain lion to make noise, hold objects overhead to appear bigger and slowly back away.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

The post Suspected mountain lion attack in Colorado leaves woman dead appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Gabe Cohen, CNN

(CNN) — The Trump administration is abruptly cutting dozens of staff who are at the forefront of disaster response and recovery at the Federal Emergency Management Agency this week, according to internal emails obtained by CNN and sources familiar with the plan.

On New Year’s Eve, some employees received emails saying their positions “would not be renewed” and “therefore, your services will no longer be needed” after their contracts expire in the first days of January.

The cuts target FEMA’s Cadre of On-Call Response and Recovery (CORE) teams, which form the backbone of the agency’s operations during and after a disaster, and could be just the beginning of a larger effort by Secretary Kristi Noem and the Department of Homeland Security to shrink FEMA, potentially axing thousands of workers in the coming months who deploy during hurricanes, wildfires and other national emergencies.

According to two sources with knowledge of the terminations, which suddenly ousted roughly 50 CORE staff, the decision came from FEMA’s new acting chief Karen Evans — who was elevated to the role by DHS leadership after the embattled previous agency head resigned.

The notices stunned employees, who learned they would be let go within days. “Beyond cruel to be treated in such a way,” one of the workers said.

FEMA’s CORE employees are among the first federal boots on the ground during a disaster, working shoulder-to-shoulder with local officials, helping survivors and managing the crucial aid and grants that fuel recovery and rebuilding.

“FEMA can’t do disaster response and recovery without CORE employees,” a former senior FEMA official told CNN. “The regional offices are almost entirely CORE staff, so the first FEMA people who are usually onsite won’t be there. The impact is states are on their own.”

So far, DHS, which oversees FEMA, hasn’t given the agency much guidance about what comes next, leaving employees anxious about more cuts.

A DHS spokesperson denied that the department has implemented any new policy for these workers and did not address questions about this week’s abrupt terminations or the department’s broader plans to downsize the agency.

“The CORE program consists of term-limited positions that are designed to fluctuate based on disaster activity, operational need, and available funding,” the spokesperson said in a statement to CNN. “CORE appointments have always been subject to end-of-term decisions consistent with that structure and there has been no change to policy.”

Several sources told CNN that DHS has been considering letting more contracts expire as part of a push to downsize the agency, though officials have wavered on how deep the cuts will go.

CORE employees make up about 40% of FEMA’s workforce — over 8,000 people — working full-time hours on temporary contracts. Several thousand of these workers will see their contracts end in 2026.

Traditionally, CORE workers have served on two-to-four-year contracts that were almost always renewed. In 2025, DHS limited FEMA to renewing these contracts for just 180 days at a time while they considered a long-term plan to shrink the agency.

As of January 1, DHS revoked FEMA’s authority to renew those employees without approval from Homeland Security officials, according to internal documents obtained by CNN.

Now, DHS is instructing FEMA to let at least some of those contracts lapse, forcing employees to depart as their terms expire.

Under President Donald Trump’s second administration, DHS has argued for the past year that FEMA is bloated, despite a 2023 Read more

PASADENA, Calif.—Nineteen marching bands, 17 equestrian teams, and 39 floral floats marched along the 5 and a half mile route on Colorado Blvd.
 
Despite the rain thousands of people showed up with high spirits.
 
Colorful floats mesmerized visitors, but only one rolled away with this year’s sweepstakes trophy for most beautiful entry—Cal Poly's “Jungle Jumpstart" float, featuring a robot being repaired by animals from the jungle.
 
This marks the 77th year that Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo have worked together to create a Rose Parade float.
 
We caught up with them on Monday when they finalized the float.
 
 “As students working together over 250 miles apart, we really thought that this showed us who we were,” said Cal Poly Float President Aubrey Goings.

 The theme of Thursday’s parade was “The Magic in Teamwork.”
 
It’s been a big year for Indiana’s Hoosiers.
 
“That is a bucket list trip for me. I was the ball boy on the 1967 Rose Bowl team. Wanted to come. Didn't get a chance to come. Here I am, 58 years later with my wife, my daughters and these two great guys. Go I-U!” said David Malson, who was visiting from Michigan.

 You can take a closer look at all the Rose Parade floats at Floatfest in Pasadena Friday and Saturday.
 

The post Wild Win: Cal Poly’s “Jungle Jumpstart” Scores Rose Parade’s Top Honor appeared first on News Channel 3-12.