• Hard Water, The Slanted Door sister bar located in the Embarcadero, allegedly owes over $400K in past-due rent and legal fees. Charles Phan, who’s the James Beard award-winning chef and owner of both Slanted Door and Hard Water, signed a 10-year lease for the space in 2012, which would have been up for renewal sometime in 2023; SF Piers Owner, Inc., the company that owns and manages the location, is seeking $424,535.27 in unpaid rent and miscellaneous legal fees; Phan has yet to comment more on details of the eviction note. [Eater SF]
  • As it turns out: People seem to actually be holding on to their "pandemic pets," despite news of the contrary. A 2021 study from Shelter Animals Count, which maintains a national database of shelter statistics, found that intake levels at U.S. shelters had increased by just 0.56% from 2020 to 2021—which, compared to 2021 to 2019, is a massive improvment when shelters actually saw a 23% decrease in the number of animals that were returned. [KRON4]
  • San Francisco bars and eateries were buzzing with business yesterday after the City lifted its requirement for proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test for most indoor spaces. [KPIX]
  • eBay, which is based in San Jose, has announced it will ban transactions to Russian addresses. [NBC Bay Area]
  • Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board began their investigation of this week's Caltrain crash in San Bruno; one of the chief questions they're looking to answer is exactly why construction equipment—that included a crane—was on the tracks and unattended in the first place. [ABC7]
  • If you're in need of some on-screen beauty to pull up today, this new Maldivian fish, aptly named rose-veiled fairy wrasse, was recently discovered by scientists — its scales are a collection of neon yellows, pinks, and purples. [Mongabay]
  • As bombing continues to intensify outside Kyiv, the White House officials announced Saturday the United States was sending an additional $200M in arms and equipment to Ukraine. [NYT]

Photo: Getty Images/GMA