• The National Weather Service put parts of the Bay Area under a Fire Weather Watch for this weekend. The East Bay Hills, North Bay Mountains, Diablo Range, and Santa Cruz Mountains will be under the watch from Monday evening to Sunday morning as potential dry thunderstorms roll through the area; all of the regions under the watch are experiencing "exceptional drought" conditions, per the US Drought Monitor. [ABC7]
  • Uber was fined $59M last year — but could now get away virtually scot-free. The California Public Utilities Commission previously fined Uber $59M this past December and also threatened to suspend its license to operate in the state after the company did not comply with a request for sexual assault data; that fine has now been slashed to just $150K. [KPIX]
  • Oh, and Uber's nauseating rates will go down... eventually. Dara Khosrowshahi, the company's CEO and "Dad of Silicon Valley," recently sat down with NYT reporter Maureen Dowd, waxing nostalgic that fares will go back to "the good old days" (adjusted for inflation) by September; Khosrowshahi also squashed any hopes of one day paying for an Uber with cryptocurrency. [New York Times]
  • Some 1,500 acres of trees in the East Bay Regional Park District have been affected by a new die-off pattern — which will cost Oakland over $10M to deal with. [Oaklandside]
  • A small 8-acre brush fire was quickly put out in San Jose Friday late afternoon; no injuries or structural damages were reported. [KRON4]
  • There will be a community trash clean-up at Dolores Park on Sunday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. to pick up small pieces of “microtrash," so swing by if you want to feel less guilty about the single-use plastic water bottle you just bought. [Mission Local]
  • A small plane crash in Napa killed three people; the plane hit the ground near Abreu Vineyards after the pilot clipped a tree trying to maneuver the aircraft. [KTVU]
  • Check out these five Bay Area restaurant pop-ups this weekend to nosh on some damn good tacos and tamales (among other morsels). [The Bold Italic]

Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images/yhelfman