NYC and LA County lifted their indoor mask mandates yesterday. Coastal elites will soon be allowed to dine, shop, attend school, work out, and see movies indoors without wearing masks and/or having to flash their vax cards.

These moves from two of the staunchest implementers of Covid rules signal an end to US pandemic restrictions as we know them. (A federal mask mandate on public transit is still in effect, not that LA cares.)

In dropping the mask and proof-of-vax mandates, NYC Mayor Adams gave one directive to New Yorkers: It’s time to party. “We have become so boring as a city. I want all my parades back, every one of them,” he said.

So life is normalizing…how about work life?

During his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Biden said, “It’s time for Americans to get back to work and fill our great downtowns again. People working from home can feel safe to begin to return to the office.”

Companies have been priming their cold brew kegs. In the last few days, several tech giants announced office reopening plans:

• Twitter is opening its offices (and resuming business travel *airlines cheer*) March 15.
• Google said employees can head back to some locations, including its Bay Area HQ, starting April 4.
• Apple told workers to return to the office one day per week beginning April 11, with that cadence ramping up to 2x three weeks later.

American Express, Meta, and Microsoft are among the companies that already introduced back-to-office plans last month.

But hopes for full offices and bustling business districts are unrealistic. Economists estimate that three-fourths of the increase in telework during Covid will continue past the pandemic stage of the disease, and the number of fully remote workers will double compared to before the pandemic. Many employees who do return to offices won’t be required to work in-person for the entire week: Twitter in particular has gone so far as to leave the decision of working in offices and for how many days entirely up to its employees.

Big picture: Companies that don’t offer flexible work options could be at a disadvantage for hiring new employees and retaining current ones in this tight labor market. 60% of US workers with jobs that can be done from home say that, given the choice, they’d prefer to work from home all or most of the time, according to a recent Pew survey.—JW

Ukraine latest: Western leaders condemned Russia’s attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine early Friday morning. “By the grace of God, the world narrowly averted a nuclear catastrophe last night,” the US envoy to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol has been besieged by Russian forces, and its mayor said residents have no water, heat, or electricity.

Russian oil ban debated. The US is reportedly considering a ban on US imports of Russian crude, though the White House is still hesitant given the potential impacts on US and European economies. In a poll taken yesterday of Morning Brew readers, 92% supported a ban on Russian energy exports to the West.

Two thumbs up for the jobs report. US employers added 678,000 jobs in February, (far more than expected) and the unemployment rate fell to 3.8%. And in more potential good news, annual wage growth ticked down from the prior month. Why is that even remotely good news? Because it suggests that the feared “wage–price spiral” that could drive inflation even higher may not be materializing.

The Russian government blocked access to Facebook and Twitter in the country, and not because it’s worried about screen time addiction. The ban is part of the government’s broader attempt to control the narrative of the war by clamping down on what it considers fake news.

Also yesterday, the Russian Parliament passed a law to criminalize what it deems false information about Russia’s military. Anyone, including non-Russian citizens, can face up to 15 years in prison for breaking the law.

Western outlets immediately reacted to what Bloomberg’s editor-in-chief said “makes it impossible to continue any semblance of normal journalism inside the country.”

• Citing the new law, BBC News and Bloomberg said they’re halting the work of their journalists in Russia.
• CNN also announced yesterday that it will stop broadcasting in Russia.

Big picture: Russian citizens can still access most sites via Telegram or through personal VPNs, but many Russian independent news organizations have already pulled Ukraine content or simply shut down due to tighter censorship policies from the Kremlin.—MM

Tonight, Duke men’s basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski will coach the final home game of his 42-year career against archrival UNC.

Given Coach K’s mythical status at Duke—five national championships, 12 Final Four appearances, gloriously losing to Maryland a few times while I was a student there—demand for tickets is blowing the roof off of Cameron Indoor Stadium.

• As of last night, the cheapest ticket to enter the game was $3,243, which is more than the cheapest ticket to attend this year’s Super Bowl.
• With an average ticket price of $7,400, it’s the most expensive regular-season game in any sport in SeatGeek’s records.

But there’s a catch: If you’re a student at Duke, you can get into the game for free.

But there’s another catch: You have to sleep in a tent outside the arena for months to maintain your place in line.

And the property value of the camp that’s sprung up for this game is on par with prices in places like Vail or Palm Beach, Zillow’s senior managing economist Chris Glynn told the WSJ. Glynn estimates that each square foot of “Krzyzewskiville” is worth ~$1,000, giving the entire community a value of $20 million.—NF

Stat: Prolific fantasy author Brandon Sanderson has raised more than $20.8 million in three days to self-publish new books, setting the record for the highest-funded Kickstarter project ever. Sanderson, who’s famous for creating the Cosmere universe and being the best thing to come out of Nebraska since Kool-Aid, was aiming to raise $1 million to self-publish the four novels he wrote during the pandemic.

Quote: “There is no room in this party for apologists for Putin.”

Former VP Mike Pence denounced the Republicans who have failed to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin at a speech to GOP donors in New Orleans last night.

Read: On CO2, students, and ventilation (Why is this interesting?)

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Ukraine roundup: If you missed any of our extensive coverage of the war in Ukraine, we created a webpage with all of the stories here. Plus, we wrote an explainer on what a bank run could mean for the Russian economy.

Weekend conversation starters:

• Which corporate buzzwords make your skin crawl?
• How long does it take a hacker to brute force your password?
• The many moods of Kylie
• A Wordle rip-off for music nerds

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