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STAR TRIBUNE Minneapolis, St. Paul MN • Volume XXXV • No. 230 • Nov. 20, 2016

¬SUNDAY

HOMESFloors paved with

97,000 pennies

MINNESOTARace for governor already beginning

HEALTHDNA doesn’t have to be your destiny

NATIONFacebook faces up to fake news glut

35° 23°Sunny and brisk. More snow on the way. B16

Officials prepare to release 30 years’ worth of gathered evidence to the public. By JENNIFER BROOKSjennifer.brooks@startribune.com

ST. CLOUD – Almost every scrap of information from the nearly three-decade search for Jacob Wetterling — tens of thousands of pages of tips, interrogations and dead-end leads — is stashed in boxes in a basement here.

Those boxes are now open, and soon members of the pub-

lic will be able to read the con-tents for themselves.

Jacob’s killer, Danny Hein-rich , in September confessed to the crime, and on Monday, will be sentenced to 20 years in prison as part of a plea agree-ment with prosecutors. Some-time after that, the contents of the “Wetterling Room” will become public record.

But before those inves-tigative documents can be

released, someone has to go through every box, every page, every line, and painstakingly blot out things like Social Secu-rity numbers, private medical data and children’s names.

Teams of five to 14 people have been at it for weeks, run-ning through roll after roll of redaction tape — a mile and a half of it so far, dotted across more than 37,000 pages of investigative reports. That’s

not counting boxes of taped interviews that need to be transcribed, stacks of photo-graphs and physical evidence, newspaper clippings, and fold-ers crammed with the 80,000 or so tips that poured in from every corner of the globe between October 1989, when a masked stranger snatched Jacob off his bike, and Sep-tember 2016, when Heinrich,

‘Wetterling Room’ tells its secrets

Changes will affect 200,000 Minnesotans who gained coverage under new law.

By JEREMY OLSON, CHRISTOPHER SNOWBECK and GLENN HOWATTStar Tribune staff

Kelsey Barkley isn’t sure what Donald Trump’s elec-tion means for the future of Obamacare and health insur-ance. But she knows it means anxiety for her. Barkley, 25, suf-fers from a genetic nerve con-dition that causes numbness in her limbs and, when it flares up, extreme pain.

“When it happens,’’ she said, “it’s something you need insurance for.”

Barkley and people like her have benefited in multiple ways from the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and its strategies for increas-ing access to health insurance. One provision, which Barkley has used, allows children to stay on their parents’ coverage until age 26. Another forbids insurance companies from denying coverage because of a person’s preexisting medical conditions. Another expanded the state-federal Medicaid program to more low-income childless adults like Barkley.

Which of those provisions will survive — if any — now that Republicans control the White House, Congress and the Minnesota Legislature? The question probably won’t be settled for months. That leaves a cloud of questions

For ACA patients, a murky prognosis

By PATRICK HEALEY New York Times

NEW YORK – Donald Trump ignited a surprising confronta-tion on Saturday between his incoming administration and the cast of the Broadway hit “Hamilton,” setting off furious debate over American princi-ples like free speech, respect and the ability to challenge authority in the Trump era.

He demanded an apology from the racially diverse cast for making an unusual, politi-cally charged appeal from the stage on Friday night to Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who was in the audience, urg-ing him and Trump to “uphold our American values” and “work on behalf of all of us.”

Trump, who has stirred bipartisan concern over his habit of attacking those who challenge him, said that the actors had “harassed” Pence and issued a battle cry to his supporters by saying that the

Trump takes angry shot at ‘Hamilton’

RENÉE JONES SCHNEIDER • renee.jones@startribune.comAyan Farah spoke of her sons, Adnan and Mohamed, who were sentenced recently for trying to join ISIL.

By FAIZA MAHAMUD • faiza.mahamud@startribune.com

B efore April 2015, Ayan Farah saw her-self as a typical Somali mother: tak-ing care of children, planning a son’s

wedding, starting a small restaurant at Min-neapolis’ Karmel Mall .

All that changed when her sons were arrested.

Now a woman who rarely thought about the world outside is emerging as a voice for her community as she works to prevent what hap-pened to her from happening to other mothers.

“I didn’t know much about the struggles of the Somali community in Minnesota until

my kids were arrested,” Ayan said.Last Tuesday and Wednesday, Ayan Farah

watched a federal judge sentence her two oldest sons for trying to leave the country to join the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Adnan Farah , 20, had pleaded guilty and will serve 10 years in prison. Mohamed , 22, had taken his case to trial; he got a 30-year term, one of the longest handed out to the nine young men sentenced last week.

Now, Ayan Farah feels it’s her responsibil-ity to protect other families and her other

Hindsight haunts Somali mother2 sons sentenced in ISIL case “were always happy,” she recalls.

TOO MANY TAKING A

RISKY RIDE

The cars started lining up an hour before pop music star Gwen Stefani wrapped up her concert at St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center.

As 5,000 concert goers streamed out of the arena, the drivers went to work. “Do you want an Uber ride?” asked one. Another held up a big piece of paper marked “Uber” and told pass-ers by they could save a lot of money by paying him cash for a ride.

In the scramble to get home, it was impos-sible for customers to tell which of the driv-ers actually worked for Uber. Half the vehi-cles were not displaying corporate logos, as required by law. Most of the drivers openly solicited potential customers on the street or agreed to take cash for a ride, tactics that are illegal for Uber drivers.

Such scenes have become common in the

Twin Cities, where Uber and the rival service Lyft now provide more rides than traditional taxi cabs. Operating with little city oversight and less stringent rules than taxis, an informal and dangerous ride-sharing culture has emerged in which people casually hail unmarked cars and barter for rides.

Uber and Lyft both tell customers they shouldn’t get in vehicles unless they first book their ride through the companies’ phone apps. But many people ignore the warnings, accept-ing rides from strangers who sometimes turn out to be predators.

At least five women in the Twin Cities have been abducted or assaulted by men who pre-sented themselves as Uber drivers in the past two years, police reports show. In Atlanta, Los

Rule-breakers are bringing a dark side to the ride-share culture Story by JEFFREY MEITRODT, COVEY SON • Photos by AARON LAVINSKY, JEFF WHEELER • Star Tribune

Todd Boeser picks up extra dollars by driving for Uber and Lyft. He

says lots of bar patrons solicit rides on the street at closing time.

See ACA on A8 Ø

See FARAH on A9 Ø

See UBER on A10 Ø

Danny Hein-rich is to be sentenced Monday, putting the case to rest.

See WETTERLING on A11 Ø

What’s in the room• 37,000 pages of reports

filled with 80,000 tips.• Files from Interpol and

psychics; files in Japanese and Spanish.

• Heinrich’s name, almost from the start.

O N T H E R O A D S

1,500taxi drivers in

the metro area

10KUber and Lyft

drivers in metro

See TRUMP on A7 Ø

MINNESOTA

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Black Friday deal wars intensify

Changes: How Trump might act on the key issues. A6Cabinet: A look at who could be a part of Trump’s team. A7

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November 20, 2016startribune.com

Angeles and other cities, men pretending to work for Uber have been charged with attack-ing women after luring them into their cars. Chicago police warned last year of robbers posing as Uber drivers.

“The whole idea behind this service was that people were supposed to know what they were getting,” said St. Paul Council Member Dan Bostrom , a former policeman. “I am concerned that folks are putting their lives in the hands of somebody they don’t know in a vehicle they don’t know anything about.”

In recent months, Star Tri-bune reporters repeatedly observed drivers ignoring regulations aimed at protect-ing the public, making it diffi-cult to distinguish a legitimate ride-sharing vehicle from a fake.

Drivers can be cited for infractions, but regulators in Minneapolis and St. Paul have done little to crack down. The vast majority of Uber and Lyft drivers caught breaking the rules have gotten a warning, records show. Altogether, drivers here have been fined $5,500, vs. millions of dollars in penalties in other cities.

Moreover, regulators are largely absent when Uber and Lyft drivers are busiest, such as after concerts or sporting events and outside bars at closing time.

After being told of the Star Tribune’s findings, officials in Minneapolis and St. Paul pledged to improve enforce-ment.

“We don’t want to outlaw the convenience — we want to target the rule breakers,” said Minneapolis City Coun-cil Member Jacob Frey , chief author of the city’s ride-shar-ing ordinance. “And we can do that through additional enforcement, which clearly needs to happen.”

App use encouragedUber and Lyft officials say

riders who go outside the app are taking their chances because they are getting into a vehicle without knowing whether the driver has passed a criminal-background check or is driving a safe vehicle. Moreover, even if the driver is with Uber or Lyft, passen-gers will not be able to collect from the companies’ insurers if they’re involved in an accident during an unofficial trip.

“For the safety of drivers and passengers, solicitations made outside of the Lyft app are strictly prohibited,” Lyft said in a written statement.

In response to the Star Tri-bune’s reporting, Uber said it recently began a public aware-ness effort. The Twin Cities campaign, which will include e-mails to drivers and pop-up messages to riders during surge periods, advises custom-ers to “request your ride before you go outside.”

Some veteran drivers say the problems are a direct result of the ride-sharing companies’ pricing model, in which rates spike when demand is high.

Though Uber and Lyft rates are typically lower than a tra-ditional taxi, a cheap ride is often hard to find after mid-night. One driver said he charged a passenger $121 for a 7-mile trip last Halloween — a trip that normally would have cost about $15. Unlike taxicabs, which can be hard to find at bar closing time, Uber and Lyft can charge whatever they want. The companies also are known as being friendly to customers who have had too much to drink.

Drivers said they are some-times mobbed by people seek-ing a cheaper ride home, who knock on their windows plead-

ing for a cash ride. Drivers often accept, even though local rules forbid taking street hails. City officials have expressed concern about the level of chaos and are taking steps to ensure the orderly flow of traffic at bar time in downtown Minneapolis.

“It’s crazy when the bars close,” said Todd Boeser , who has driven for both companies. “If you’re in Uptown [Minne-apolis ], people jump out and stop you.”

Boeser said he has accepted an illegal fare just once, when a group of drunk en out-of-towners piled into his car and offered him $20 for a 2-mile ride. He thinks many of the people providing illegal rides are not affiliated with Uber or Lyft.

“It’s not safe for the pas-sengers, because they’re unac-counted for,” Boeser said.

In February, a 35-year-old woman was flagged down by the driver of a black sedan after she walked out of a Franklin Avenue restaurant. The driver said he worked for Uber, police records show.

Heather, who asked to be identified only by her first name, said her first hint that something was wrong came when he promised not to charge her for the ride. Then, a few blocks from home, he asked if she lived alone.

Heather decided to cut the trip short. The driver chased her down.

“He pushed me into the door and tried sticking his tongue down my throat. He grabbed my breast at one point,” Heather said. “It was really scary.”

In August, a man posing as an Uber driver tried to sexu-ally assault a passenger after picking her up in the Uptown area of Minneapolis and driv-ing her to Woodbury, records show. Police said the woman fought off her assailant, who fled the scene.

St. Paul City Council Mem-ber Amy Brendmoen said she’s concerned that people are putting themselves at risk. “We have been told that since we were 5 years old — don’t get into a car with a stranger,” Brendmoen said, adding that it may be time to add more con-sumer protections.

An Uber spokeswoman noted that customers who use cars without going through the app lose out on safeguards built into the system, such as the ability to identify drivers and report problems.

Unlike taxicabs, which

are easily identifiable on the street, Uber and Lyft vehicles tend to blend anonymously into traffic.

Many drivers said they pre-fer not to put stickers featuring company logos on their wind-shields, even though the stick-ers are required.

“I didn’t want to be a target for cabdrivers, so I decided I wasn’t going to put those in my window, ” said Lyft driver Barbara Peppe , who continued driving without the logos after St. Paul regulators warned her about the violation in January.

In Minneapolis, one of the most heavily trafficked inter-sections for ride sharing is the Uptown neighborhood of Hennepin and Lake. Outside the nightclub Cowboy Slim’s, Uber and Lyft drivers park at the cab stand and solicit cus-tomers. Star Tribune report-ers observed a police officer occasionally shooing them away one night earlier this year, only to see them return minutes later.

Lyft driver Liban Hassan ,

driving a Honda minivan, pulled up alongside a reporter and made his pitch: “$30? Got money? Want a ride?”

A few days later, Hassan denied doing anything wrong. “I know the only people who can pick up for cash are the taxi people,” he said.

Grant Wilson, the top ride-sharing regulator in Minne-apolis, said his team has con-ducted just a few sting opera-tions since licensing Uber and Lyft in 2014. He doesn’t have the authority to tell Uber or Lyft to remove drivers caught operating illegally.

An Uber manager said he was unaware of any Minne-sota drivers who have been removed for illegal pickups or other violations. Lyft officials declined to answer questions.

Enforcement attemptsEarlier this year, regulators

in Minneapolis summoned Uber and Lyft representa-tives to a meeting at City Hall. Despite issuing dozens of warnings for violations, com-pliance was not improving, records show.

“This can’t keep up,” city regulator Wilson told Uber officials.

For the past two years, the city’s main tactic for identify-ing rule-breakers has been to order a car and conduct a sur-prise inspection when it shows up. The most common prob-lem is missing logo stickers.

Uber and Lyft officials told city officials they were taking steps to address the problem.

“It is our anticipation that we should see this get significantly better,” said Clay Carroll , Uber’s senior operations manager.

A month after the meeting, Star Tribune reporters took to the streets, spending four weekends observing Uber and Lyft drivers in Minneapo-lis and St. Paul. Of the 300 or so drivers who identified them-selves as working for Uber or Lyft, just 30 percent were using the stickers.

So far, St. Paul has not fined any Uber or Lyft drivers despite documenting at least 60 violations, including driving without a license. Minneapolis has fined a handful of drivers.

“It’s important that we make sure there aren’t incentives for bad behavior,” said Brend-moen, who co-authored the city’s ride-sharing ordinance.

Brendmoen said she’s glad that so many people are using Uber or Lyft instead of driving home after a night of drinking, but she said riders need to be aware of the risks of taking an illegal ride.

Kimberly, a 28-year-old from Eagan who asked to be identified only by her first name, said she learned the hard way.

One night last year, she spot-ted a car with the Uber logo after spending a few hours at the annual Beer Dabbler event at the State Fairgrounds. She asked for a ride.

The driver suggested she sit up front, she recalled in an interview, and a few minutes later he began rubbing her thigh. Upset, Kimberly asked the driver to pull into a nearby gas station. Once inside, she began “crying hysterically” and police were summoned.

Kimberly told officers she couldn’t identify the driver or his vehicle, and the inves-tigation was closed. If she had booked through the app, police could have used the informa-tion to identify the driver.

“I have no problem riding in an Uber if I am with a friend and my friend books it through the app,” Kimberly said. “But I probably won’t drunkenly get into an Uber by myself again.”

Jeffrey Meitrodt • 612-673-4132

ø UBER from A1

P L AY I N G I T S A F E : Todd Boeser, left, drives for Uber and Lyft as a side job. He says he doesn’t display the ride-share logos because riders tend to try to pile in his vehicle — like the man soliciting a ride, above — even though they have not booked a ride through the phone app. Unauthorized rides can put both drivers and passengers at risk.

TOO MANY TAKING A

RISKY RIDE

Uber hot spotsThe top 10 Uber destinations in the Twin Cities metro1. Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport2. Mall of America3. Cowboy Slim’s4. Cowboy Jack’s, Mpls. 5. Target Field6. Hilton Minneapolis7. Hyatt Regency8. Surly Brewing Co . 9. Stella’s Fish Cafe 10. The W Hotel at Foshay Tower

RegulationsIn Mpls.-St. Paul, it is against the law for Uber and Lyft drivers to:• Accept any rides that

did not originate through the phone app .

• Accept a street hail from a customer.

• Solicit customers on the street.

• Pick up or discharge passengers at a cab stand.

• Operate a vehicle without distinctive corporate emblems.

“It’s crazy when the bars close. If

you’re in Uptown [Minneapolis],

people jump out and stop you.”Todd Boeser, who drives for Uber and Lyft

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