• What looks to be another dead whale has washed up in the Bay Area — this time at Pacifica State Beach. TBD on how the large cetacean might've died, but it appears to be a gray whale; this would be the tenth deceased whale to be found on a Bay Area beach since February. [KRON4]
• Comal, the once no-tip-leading eatery in the Bay Area, is poised to... well, bring back gratuity. Amid the Comal Mexican restaurant group's pivot to expand its fast-casual concepts, the beloved East Bay collection of restaurants will now bring back tip pooling; John Paluska, the owner behind the business, confirmed to the Eater SF that the previous model was "not viable" anymore. [Eater SF]
• The New York Times would like to remind you that they still think San Francisco is solely a cesspool of crime. Now that the tech exodus subject fodder is losing its mass appeal, the publication’s San Francisco bureau chief Thomas Fuller recounts his own experience of seeing "sticky fingers" at local grocery stores and pharmacies — before asserting the "shoplifting epidemic in San Francisco has only worsened" since he moved here five years ago. [New York Times]
• San Jose's Willow Glen apartments — a former senior living center — is now reimagined as a shelter for people who are experiencing homelessness. [Hoodline]
• Now with millions more in local, state, and federal funding, school-age kids in Oakland are hoping to see resources allocated to addressing mental health this fall, among other things. [Oaklandside]
• After 14 months of having boarded up doors and windows, the Castro's Moby Dick bar has finally reopened. [Hoodline]
• COVID-19 has been an "economic plague" for thousands of San Franciscans who've now been out of work for well over a year. [Mission Local]
• Here's an adorable sea otter shucking an oyster to help cleanse your palate before the weekend begins. [ABC7]

Image: Courtesy of Getty Images/Missing35mm