Good morning! Here’s your Morning Minute, a quick look at the top stories making headlines across the Central Coast today.

• “Herc” the Hero: Mental health & service dogs on campus: One Cal Poly athlete is opening up about her mental health journey, and the four-legged friend helping her through it. Community Reporter Dylan Foreman spoke with Ella Connor, a Cal Poly beach volleyball player, just in time for Mental Health Month. He also looked into the rising need for service dogs here on the Central Coast.
• Live drill: Mass casualty exercise at Santa Maria airport: A full-scale mass casualty exercise is happening today at the Santa Maria Airport. The drill runs from 10 to 11 a.m. and brings together multiple local agencies, including the Santa Maria Fire Department, to train for large-scale emergency responses. This is all part of ongoing efforts to keep our communities safe and prepared.
• Fire season prep: EMT training in Paso Robles: Paso Robles Fire and Emergency Services is hosting a Wildland EMT and Paramedic class today and tomorrow in the Montebello Oaks Open Space. Expect to see equipment and personnel on-site from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. as crews train for fire season with skills like land navigation and mapping.

Attention residents in the Five Cities area including: Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, Oceano, Pismo Beach, Avila Beach, and San Miguelito Water Company customers, a boil water notice is in place after routine testing found bacteria in the drinking water system, violating state health standards. Until further notice, people should use bottled water or boil tap water for at least one minute before drinking, cooking, or brushing teeth. If boiling isn’t possible, officials recommend disinfecting water with household bleach. The issue is expected to be resolved by Sunday, May 4, or sooner.

Jeff Bard now has permanent housing after waiting 15 years, a reality echoed across Santa Barbara County, where 11,000 people are on the waitlist for Section 8 vouchers, which is now closed due to a lack of funding. County officials say rising rents have created a $7 million shortfall, forcing them to issue vouchers only to emergency cases like domestic violence survivors, veterans, or foster youth. In neighboring San Luis Obispo County, the Housing Authority also can’t issue new vouchers despite federal funding remaining flat, as rising rents drive up costs. Both counties say the shortage of vouchers is straining resources for low-income residents and partner agencies trying to combat homelessness.

San Luis Obispo County is moving forward with a safety improvement project for Los Osos Valley Road, a key corridor connecting Los Osos to San Luis Obispo and Montaña de Oro State Park. The Los Osos Valley Road Corridor Concept Plan has been in development for over a year, with more than 4,000 public comments shaping a draft design focused on addressing speeding, improving bike and pedestrian safety, and adding sidewalks. Proposed changes include a roundabout at Foothill Boulevard and both dedicated and painted bike lanes. The Los Osos Community Advisory Council has requested more time to review the draft before it goes to the County Board of Supervisors. Funding is expected to come from a combination of state and federal grants.

AZUSA, Calif. — Dan Ploog has been named the new head coach of Azusa Pacific Women’s Basketball this afternoon.  Ploog, who has spent the past 18 seasons on staff under former head coach T.J. Hardeman becomes just the eighth head coach in program history.



“Dan has been an integral part of our women’s basketball success for nearly two decades, and we are excited to see him step into this new role,” said Azusa Pacific Director of Athletics Gary Pine. “His commitment to our mission, his understanding of what it takes to compete at a championship level, his high energy and engagement, and his deep love for our student-athletes make him the ideal person to lead our program into the future.”



During Ploog’s tenure as an assistant, APU has been a fixture on the national stage, reaching the postseason 12 times across the NAIA and NCAA Division II levels. The Cougars captured the 2011 NAIA national title, finished as the NAIA runner-up in 2010, and reached the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in 2019 and 2021. It was also twice the No. 1 seed in the NCAA West Region Tournament (2016, 2018) during his time on staff.



“After leading the APU Women’s Basketball program for the last 18 years it excites me to know God has raised up Dan to be His next leader for the program. Dan has coached with me every year I have been here and I look forward to seeing him lead the program into new territory,” said former head coach T.J. Hardeman.



Before his coaching career, Ploog enjoyed a decorated collegiate playing career at Biola University, where he was a three-year starter and known as one of the toughest defenders in the Golden State Athletic Conference. He helped lead the Eagles to four straight NAIA Tournament appearances, including a Final Four berth in 2000. He set a school record for career games played (136, since broken) and averaged 5.3 points and 4.1 rebounds over his final three seasons.



“Azusa Pacific has been my home for the past 18 years, and it is truly an honor to lead this program,” Ploog said. “I am grateful for the foundation that Coach Hardeman built and the opportunity to continue investing in our incredible student-athletes both on and off the court.”



A graduate of La Habra High School in 1995, Ploog was a standout athlete in both basketball and water polo, earning prep All-American honors in the pool before choosing to pursue basketball at the collegiate level.



Ploog earned his bachelor’s degree in sports physiology from Biola in 2000. He and his wife Heidi, a former Biola basketball standout and the daughter of T.J.

Hardeman have been married for 24 years and live in Fullerton with their four sons: Vander, Hudson, Logan, and Lincoln.



Ploog succeeds T.J. Hardeman, who concluded a decorated 18-year tenure that featured over 429 career wins and a 2011 NAIA National Championship.

SAN BRUNO, Calif. – After winning his sixth straight West Coast Conference Coach of the Year award on Wednesday, LMU Beach Volleyball head coach John Mayer was named the 2025 AVCA Coach of the Year, as announced by the organization on Thursday morning. In addition, LMU’s Chloe Hooker and Michelle Shaffer were named AVCA Second-Team All-Americans. 

Mayer led the Lions back into the NCAA Championship as a No. 4 seed after winning a sixth straight West Coast Conference Championship last week. LMU concluded the regular season with a record of 35-6, Mayer’s Lions enter the NCAA Tournament riding a seven-match winning streak. LMU boasts multiple wins over the top-ranked teams in the country according to the AVCA national polls in No. 1 TCU and No. 3 UCLA. Mayer becomes the second West Coast Conference head coach to win AVCA Coach of the Year (Nina Matthies, Pepperdine in 2013).

Hooker was announced yesterday as the West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year, as well as an All-WCC First-Team selection. Compiling a record of 28-10 on the courts this season, Hooker primarily teamed with Vilhelmiina Prihti on either the No. 1 or No. 2 court. She and Prihti garnered a win on April 11 over No. 1 TCU. Hooker often played on LMU’s second court also with Jaeya Brach and Anna Pelloia. Hooker and Pelloia boasted Conference Pair of the Week accolades once in 2025. Hooker becomes the fifth straight Lion to claim this award. 

Shaffer, who earned All-WCC First-Team honors, compiled a record of 20-16 in 2025, playing primarily on the No. 1 court with Vilhelmiina Prihti. The tandem went 13-12 on the top court. More recently, Shaffer has been teaming with either Anna Pelloia or Jaeya Brach on the No. 1 court, winning five of her last six matches heading into the NCAA Tournament. Shaffer had previously been named the West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year and part of the Conference Pair of the Year in 2024. 

BVB5/1/2025 3:52 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Cal’s Top 2 Pairs Make Inaugural List

BERKELEY – Four members of the No. 10 California beach volleyball team were named to the inaugural All-MPSF team, the conference announced Thursday. Junior Portia Sherman and sophomore Emma Donley were named First Team All-MPSF while graduate student Sierra Caffo and junior Gia Fisher were named to the second team.
 
This is just the second time in Cal history that four Bears have made the all-conference list and the second time that there have been multiple first-team selections.
 
Sherman and Donley have played every match together as the Bears’ No. 1 pair and have enjoyed a historic season with a 27-7 overall record. As a pair they broke the all-time court-one wins record of 21 and did so in a single season. Their 27 wins ties the program’s single-season pairs record set by Grace Campbell and Maddie Micheletti in 2018.
 
The pair has 16 ranked wins this season, which includes three top-five wins and five top-ten wins. Sherman and Donley enter the postseason having won 15 of their last 18 matches which includes an 11-match winstreak that spanned from March 21 – April 13.
 
This all-conference nod comes just one day after the two were named AVCA First Team All-Americans, the first in program history, and three days after they were named to the MPSF All-Tournament Team. This is the first all-conference selection for Sherman, while Donley was named Second Team All-Pac-12 and to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team last season.
 
Caffo and Fisher have played primarily in the second spot of the lineup this season. Caffo heads into the final weekend of her career with a 20-8 overall record and an 18-8 mark on court two, while Fisher is 24-8 this year with a 21-8 court-two record. Both Bears hit major career milestones this year with Caffo reaching 75 wins and Fisher hitting 50.
 
As a pair Caffo and Fisher have won 14 of their last 18 matches, 11 of which came against ranked opponents.  
 
This is the third straight year that Caffo has made an all-conference list and the first selection of Fisher’s career.
 

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and people every day are fighting their own hidden battles. One Cal Poly athlete is using man’s best friend to help in her own mental health journey.

The Cal Poly Beach Volleyball program is soaring into the NCAA Championships this week as one of the top-ranked teams in the country, taking on LSU Friday, May 2, in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

“It’s been a great group of girls. We had seven more girls than last year. I don’t call it a team, I call it an army,” Head Coach Todd Rogers said of the 32 players he has on the roster this year.

But there’s another soldier on the team, there to serve a different purpose.

Redshirt junior Ella Connor is a two-time All-American in the sand but has dealt with mental health struggles, including panic attacks, which led to her taking 2023 off.

“I decided with my parents that a service dog would be a good thing,” she said.

Meet Herc, the golden retriever service dog that travels with Ella everywhere and is lovable just as he is helpful.

ELLA CONNOR

“He’ll tell me, Ella, you need to sit down, let’s go deal with this, let’s figure this out, and then I’ll sit down. He’ll go across my lap,” Connor explained.

Herc is one of the over 300 service animals provided and trained by Doggie Do Good in Arroyo Grande, where CEO Sandy Sandberg says that they can help people with a variety of mental health issues.

“The dog just really helps them get through it and helps them to be the best person they can be to go through life with,” Sandberg explained. The dogs get trained for a variety of mental health issues and can pick up on triggers like the ones Ella has to be able to sense when a panic attack or episode is about to happen.

There are an estimated 500,000 service dogs throughout the U.S. and Sandberg is noticing a growing need.

“I noticed that through Doggie Do Good, our company, that we have had more service dogs,” Sandberg said. “It does seem like there’s a rise as far as the need. Definitely there’s a need.”

For head coach Todd Rogers, it’s a nice addition to the team.

“He’s a good boy in that he helps everyone there. Yes, he’s focused on Ella and when he sees Ella, it’s all about Ella,” Rogers explained.

But Herc also provides comfort to everyone else on the team.

“It’s super cool to see like the wealth spread throughout the team,” Connor said.

It has also led to a happier and healthier Ella.

“From my perspective, seeing that it was like, wow, holy moly, talking about two totally different people really opened my eyes as well to it,” Rogers said of the transformation he’s seen in Ella over the past two years.

It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, dealing with your own mental health is crucial for anyone and this month is a reminder to find your Herc.

“It shows that, like, people are open to talking about it and you’re not really alone because there’s a lot of different solutions that you can use,” Connor stated.

The team’s first match is Friday, May 1 vs. LSU at 1 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN 2. The Mustangs are ranked fifth in the country.