• The pandemic continues to hammer nails in the coffin for local retail – and Uniqlo's downtown store is the latest casualty. The Japanese fast-fashion retailer is officially closing its nine-year-old, three-story Union Square location at 111 Powell Street for good on March 21; as a result, the store is laying off all of its 69 employees. [Hoodline]
• Several major US airline leaders met online Friday with White House officials to offer their cases against requiring COVID-19 tests for passengers on domestic flights. The main counterargument to those pressing against the initiative is that testing would undermine the already fragile industry — nevermind the fact that air travel, especially during the holiday months, has made the pandemic worse. [Associated Press]
• Some 2,000 Cal students living in campus housing still remain under a "self-sequester period" to drive down new COVID-19 cases — though they can now exercise outdoors. However, students will continue to remain in their dorms as much as possible and are forbidden to socialize either indoors or outside of their student groupings; meals are being delivered to the students' rooms. [Berkeleyside]
• The first of three big snowstorms has hit the Sierras — bringing with it over fifteen inches of snow. [NBC Bay Area]
• A high-speed chase on the Bay Bridge eventually ended with the recapture of more than a few stolen catalytic converters. [Chronicle]
• The Castro's Pilsner Inn is reopening after being closed for over a year. [Hoodline]
• A silver lining of the pandemic: to-go cocktails may be here to stay, if a newly proposed bill passes through the CA legislature. [Eater SF]
• Meet the all-female team behind one of San Francisco's newest park renovations in the Presidio. [The Bold Italic]

Image: Getty Images/Chris LaBasco