If KIRO can look past its differences with Sawant, you can, too, liberal-who-is-still-mad-at-Sawant-because-she-stumped-for-Jill-Stein.
If KIRO can look past its differences with Sawant, you can, too, liberal-who-is-still-mad-at-Sawant-because-she-stumped-for-Jill-Stein. Lester Black

Chief Justice John Roberts has been sworn in and the President of the United States is on trial for only the third time in United States history. The trial is currently adjourned until 1 pm ET on Tuesday.

Microsoft plans on going carbon negative by 2030: The announcement was made this morning by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, reports Geekwire. “If we don’t curb emissions and temperatures continue to climb, science tells us the results will be devastating,” the CEO said. “Each of us must take action, and that includes businesses.” Microsoft's plans also include removing "enough carbon by 2050 to make up for all of its emissions and electrical consumption since its founding decades ago."

A headline I thought I'd never see from KIRO Radio: "Why it might finally be time for Sawant’s Amazon tax"

And now, some updates from The Stranger's Rich Smith: Take it away, Rich...

Sound Transit delivers “Process Update” on fare enforcement: During a committee meeting Thursday afternoon, Sound Transit said they don’t plan to consider eliminating fares or eliminating fare enforcement because they prioritizing achieving a 40% farebox recovery rate. In 2018, light rail paid 38% of its operating costs through fares, which was two points below the current policy requirement. A representative from the agency said achieving this rate was a “big part” of their decision not to consider these two ideas. In response to data showing that fare enforcement officers disproportionally target and penalize black riders, Sound Transit will instead consider several other meaningless ideas, including a program to narc on kids who don’t pay fare, a costume change so fare enforcement officers “project a customer relations focus,” and checking for tickets on train platforms instead of in the train cars themselves.

Girmay Zahilay wasn’t having any of that: Before the fare enforcement presentation, newly elected King County Council Member Girmay Zahilay testified on the issue. He told the story of a young black rider who didn’t have a ticket. When enforcement officers asked for his ID, he said he didn’t have one. Officers then said a deputy would be waiting at the next stop to verify his ID. “It’s already beyond the pale that we’re introducing a police officer for a $2 ticket, but what’s more unacceptable to me is this is a pattern we see over and over again,” Zahilay said, adding that teachers have been telling him about black and brown students targeted by fare enforcement and homeless people carted outside during snowstorms. He called for the agency to stop criminalizing poverty and to end racial bias in fare enforcement, urging them to reduce barriers to public transportation “as much as possible.”

After hearing the presentation, Zahilay told me he thinks the agency’s October decision to temporarily suspend criminal charge referrals for fare evasion as they undergo this review is good but not enough. He wants Sound Transit to “transition fare enforcement officers to customer service professionals and handle fare evasion through an internal administrative department, not through the criminal legal system,” and adds that “our end game” should be “free public transit for all.”

Thanks, Rich!

The University Book Store near the University of Washington campus is turning 120 years old: Damn. The store opened in Denny Hall on Jan. 10, 1900, with an editorial in the student newspaper announcing: "We have depended upon the rather uncertain and inefficient service of the city bookstores long enough." The store has been visited by legendaries like Duke Ellington, Jimmy Carter, J.K. Rowling, all the Clintons, and others. Read Moira Macdonald's full feature on the store in the Seattle Times.

Awkwafina is voicing announcements for New York City Subway's 7 train: It's a promo for her upcoming Comedy Central series, Nora From Queens, but it's a nice reminder that New York City often does things better than we do.

Uh oh, a new problematic fave: Tacos Chukis has to pay over $400,000 to resolve labor violations stemming from a failure to follow overtime rules with their employees. From Eater: "The investigation claims that Tacos Chukis 'artificially' divided hours when employees worked more than 40 hours at a single location to make it appear as though those hours were put in at two separate outposts."

Did you think the Iran-US conflict was over? If you did, that was a dumb thing to think. Today, Iran announced that it's now enriching uranium higher than before the nuclear deal. This doesn't mean it's building a nuclear weapon—we're at least a year away from that, writes Vox—but the move is definitely a provocation toward the West and Trump.

Cheese slices are officially narcs: "A string of bizarre crimes led police in Texas to make an amazing discovery—cheese slices leave behind perfect fingerprints." If you're doing crimes, don't touch the cheddar.

More polls: I know I said I was over polls but I'm going to have to get into polls if I want to survive this year.

This is going to give me nightmares: 2 people found burned near hop yard in Yakima County were homicide victims

Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley revealed she is living with alopecia in a new viral video created with The Root. "The reality is that I'm black. And I'm a black woman. And I'm a black woman in politics. Everything I do is political," she said in the video, below. "So I'm trying to find my way here. And I do believe going public will help."

Let's end the day with a little Q&A between the New York Times and Larry Kramer: Question: Which subjects do you wish more authors would write about? Answer:

Gay history. Most historians taken seriously are always straight. They wouldn’t know a gay person if they took him to lunch. A good example is Ron Chernow’s biography of Hamilton, which doesn’t include the fact that he was both gay and in love with George Washington. Gore Vidal pointed this out to me.