Put your paws together for Barni, a bomb-sniffing dog at San Francisco International Airport who just won the Transportation Security Administration’s 2024 Cutest Canine Contest.

The 5-year-old German Shorthaired Pointer beat out dozens of other hardworking and cute contenders from across the country to win the honor, according to the TSA.

While on the job, Barni spends his time as a passenger screening canine, working to sniff out any explosives at the airport, the TSA said.

“Barni is a very special canine with a strong work ethic,” the TSA said in a statement. “He bursts with energy when working to detect any trace of explosives. He loves to be with his canine co-workers at the San Francisco International Airport, where he is all business. When he’s at home with his handler, Michelle, he’s free to be a goofball. He loves to play fetch but mainly is obsessed with keeping fit by chasing squirrels.”

Barni’s victory means he’ll be featured front and center on the cover of TSA’s 2025 canine calendar.

To be clear, not all lenders are out on the San Francisco office market. But those who are active are inclined to make smaller bets compared to the financing deals of the previous decade.  

For example, ASB Real Estate Investments, which sold 989 Market to BH Properties under pressure from its lender, also unloaded another office building this month at 795 Folsom St. According to property records, Alaska-based Fountainhead Development group borrowed from First National Bank of Alaska to execute the $48.3 million deal, which closed at less than half the previous price of $109.6 million the building last traded for in 2013. 

Meanwhile, at San Francisco’s famed California Street corridor, a private commercial real estate credit manager called Prime Finance helped the local group of Redco and GCI Contractors close on a $28.5 million deal for the eight-story tower at 300 California St. in May, according to property records. A decade ago, the building traded for twice as much, for $58 million. 

SAN FRANCISCO – A longtime San Francisco hardware store went up in flames Sunday morning, sending one person to the hospital and causing major damage.

Plywood now covers up the former glass front door to Great Wall Hardware, next to the 76 gas station on Taraval, near 29th in San Francisco’s Sunset District.

Firefighters battled the flames around 4 a.m. Sunday after a neighbor heard a startling sound.

“I was up around 4 a.m. to use the bathroom and I heard an explosion,” said Dominik Mosur, who lives across the street, “It was a really loud boom.”

Owner Albert Chow tells us the fire gutted his family business, which has served the Sunset neighborhood since 1983.

“Looks like a train wreck in there, and that’s kind of hard,” Chow told KTVU.

The fire sent smoke into the two apartments above the store, forcing three people out of their homes, including Chow’s mother, the founder of the store, who was taken to the hospital after inhaling smoke.

“But she, she’s okay,” said Chow who showed KTVU the damage inside the front of the store.

He believes the flames broke out around a now boarded-up display window, but can’t figure out how.

“You got me,” said Chow. “I don’t know.”

Chow estimates the damage at around a quarter million dollars.

“The hardware stores in the city, if you’ve been inside, they usually have lots of items piled up the aisle ways are very narrow,” said Rescue Capt. Justin Schorr of the San Francisco Fire Department.

The store supports three employees and serves countless customers, with some stopping by to console Chow after the fire.

“Oh, it’s devastating. It’s very sad to see,” said Angie Petitt. “It was really heartbreaking to get the news. He’s a very active and very involved community member.”

Chow is also a contractor, and after surveying the damage, feels confident there’s nothing inside he can’t handle fixing.

“I think Great Wall Hardware’s going to be back,” said Chow.

The fire department said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Chow said the building is still in good shape structurally.

He plans to reopen as soon as possible, but he doesn’t know how long it will take to clean up the mess.