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Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>You Still Here? Thursday, July 4, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

You Still Here? Thursday, July 4, 2024

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Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Public Safety

A Utah man who died after collapsing inside the Lincoln County Detention Center after his arrest at southwest Wyoming's Oyster Ridge Music Festival is being remembered by lifelong friends as someone whose struggles with addiction never eclipsed the generosity that defined him.

Tyson J. Alvares, 38, of Smithfield, Utah, died July 25 after collapsing while being booked into the Lincoln County jail, less than an hour after he was arrested by the Kemmerer Police Department at the festival.

According to a Lincoln County Sheriff's Office press release, Alvares was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, breach of peace and disorderly conduct after officers encountered him at the festival. Authorities said Alvares admitted using a controlled substance and was behaving erratically, prompting officers to have him evaluated by emergency medical technicians before transporting him to jail.

The sheriff's office said EMTs cleared Alvares for booking. He arrived at the detention center at about 9:30 p.m. and collapsed in a holding cell around 10:20 p.m. while being booked. Detention officers began lifesaving efforts after noticing he was no longer breathing, but he could not be revived, the sheriff’s office said.

Lincoln County Sheriff Shane Johnson told Cowboy State Daily there was no use of force involving Alvares at the detention center. He said any additional information would be released as part of DCI's ongoing investigation.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'He Was Always There'"}]

Stacie Lynn Izatt said she has known Alvares since childhood. Their families grew up together in Utah, and she said he was the kind of friend people knew they could depend on.

"If you needed something, if you needed help, if your bike broke or anything that way, all the way up to that, he was there," she said. "You could call him at any point."

While Izatt worked nights at a gas station, Alvares would sometimes stop by. If customers made her uncomfortable, he wouldn't leave until he knew she was safe.

"There would be creepy guys that would come in," she recalled. "He would stick around until they left ... or walk me to my car if I needed to."

She summed him up in one sentence: "He would literally give you the shirt off his back."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'He Fought Like Hell' "}]

Since Alvares' death, Izatt said she has struggled to read online comments from people who knew nothing about him beyond the circumstances of his arrest.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"All they see is the drug use,\" she said."}]

She doesn't deny that addiction became part of Alvares' life. He attended rehabilitation, experienced periods of sobriety and relapse, and repeatedly tried to regain his footing, she said.

"He fought like hell," she said. "He would do good. He would do bad. It was hard to watch."

But she hopes people understand that addiction is not the totality of a person's life.

"Just because he was an addict, he didn't deserve to die," Izatt said. "If people saw him outside of that label, they would want to be his friend."

[{"type":"text","text":"Recovery, she said, is rarely a straight path."}]

"They're still human. They're still people. They're still somebody's child. They're somebody's brother," she said. "Don't define them by that."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Family Facing More Heartbreak"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Alvares' death has compounded years of tragedy for his family."}]

Izatt said Alvares' older brother died of cancer about five years ago. More recently, a cousin was killed in an ATV rollover. 

[{"type":"text","text":"\"They're a tight-knit family,\" she said. \"They're just good people.\""}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Now, Izatt said, Alvares' mother is mourning another son."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"His mama is burying her last boy,” she said."}]

Watching strangers celebrate his death or dismiss his life because of addiction has only deepened the pain for those who loved him.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"It's cruel,\" Izatt said. \"People don't know him.\""}]

In the days since Alvares' death, family members have shared a 

 seeking donations to help his mother cover funeral expenses.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Questions Remain"}]

Authorities have not released a cause or manner of death, and DCI has not disclosed what occurred between Alvares' arrival at the jail and his collapse roughly 50 minutes later.

Sheriff Johnson confirmed Alvares underwent an EMT evaluation before being transported to the jail but declined further comment while DCI's investigation remains active.

Cowboy State Daily sought comment from the Kemmerer Police Department regarding Alvares' arrest and requested information from the Lincoln County Coroner's Office regarding his cause and manner of death, but neither agency responded before publication.

Tyler alvarez oyster ridge 7 29 26

<title>Friend Says Man Who Died In Wyoming Jail After Music Festival Arrest Was More Than His Addiction | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Utah man who died after collapsing inside a Lincoln County jail following his arrest at southwest Wyoming's Oyster Ridge Music Festival is being remembered by friends as someone whose struggles with addiction never eclipsed the generosity that defined him.

Friend Says Man Who Died In Wyoming Jail After Music Festival Arrest Was More Than His Addiction

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's managing editor, Greg Johnson.

Greg Johnson

Wyoming Life

Around Wyoming

The good news is nobody vandalized the Persian Gulf War Memorial in Rock Springs. The bad news is that it had fallen into disrepair enough that a whole side of engraved names crumbled.

“The silver lining in this is it brings out so much good in our community,” said Mayor Max Mickelson about a flood of people asking how they can help fix the memorial since the damage was announced by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department on Tuesday.

“However, it should never have been allowed to reach a point where it is that vulnerable,” the mayor added.

The memorial, which has been in Veterans Park on the east side of Rock Springs for “at least 20 years,” has been a frequent target of vandalism in the past, the mayor said.

That’s why the first reaction was to assume vandalism when it was discovered that the whole right panel of names on the three-panel monument had fallen off.

“That particular (monument) has a history of being vandalized, so some of that damage and decay had come from that,” Mickelson said.

It was revealed that a child, not vandals, had accidentally triggered the collapse after the child’s mother contacted the Rock Springs Police Department to set the record straight.

“Following our initial community release (citing vandalism), a local mother contacted our department to report that her young child was involved,” the RPD says in a report on the incident.

“The mother was attending a sporting event at the park when her younger child returned to her covered in dust,” the report says. “At the time, she was unaware that anything had been damaged.

“The child was trying to read the names when a section of old, deteriorating mortar failed, causing the stone tiles to pull free and fall. We can confirm that this incident was not an act of intentional, criminal vandalism or malicious destruction.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"All Memorials To Be Examined"}]

That’s also good news for city residents who expressed outrage that military veterans could potentially be targeted by vandals, and then disappointment that the memorial had gotten to a state that it could crumble.

When Yellowstone Tile owner Steve Elwood learned about the damage to the memorial, he offered to donate his time to assess the damage and help get it fixed.

“No. 1, I love our country and I honor our troops and fully support them,” he said. “It’s a shame what happened to that wall.”

He also said he feels a sense of duty to his father, who worked to build a memorial wall in San Diego, where they used to live.

“I also want to honor my father, who recently passed away, and my father loved our troops more than anyone,” said Elwood, adding that other family members are veterans. “I want to do my part for our country. I didn’t get the opportunity to fight in a war. I want to do my part.”

He said that while he’s glad the damage wasn’t deliberate, he wants to make sure it’s restored in a way that it’ll last a lot longer.

“I was so glad to hear it was not vandalism. I was worried it was some little Communist teenager making a statement,” Elwood said. “It just broke my heart to see the names of the veterans crumble like that.”

Gilbert Pacheco Jr. is one of the names on the Persian Gulf War Memorial in Rock Springs.

“My name is on the memorial while serving on board the USS Princeton (CG 59), and I find this very sad,” he said in a response to the city’s initial report.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What’s Next?"}]

Now that the condition of the memorial has been brought to light, Mickelson said the city is already assessing the damage, and also will do an assessment of the condition of all the city's memorials.

“Now that we’ve reached a conclusion with how that damage happened, we’re working on how to assess all the memorials we have,” he said. “The intention is to not just reproduce what was there, but to do something that honors those men and women.

“I was very distraught when that was brought to my attention yesterday morning.”

If there’s a silver lining to the story, Elwood said it’s the child’s mother.

“By coming forward to say, ‘Hey, that was my kid,’ she’s showing accountability, which there isn’t much of these days,” he said. “Integrity is lost in today’s age. It was truly a great thing what she did.

“If not, we would all still be sitting here thinking it was vandalism.”

Rock springs Persian Gulf memorial 7 29 26

<title>Good News: Rock Springs Vets Memorial Not Vandalized. Bad News: It Crumbled Anyway | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The good news is nobody vandalized the Persian Gulf War Memorial in Rock Springs. The bad news is that it crumbled anyway. "It should never have been allowed to reach a point where it is that vulnerable,” the mayor said.

Good News: Rock Springs Vets Memorial Not Vandalized. Bad News: It Crumbled Anyway

Crime & Courts

Courts

 on 72 child sex and pornography charges in a Wyoming district court on Tuesday, John C. Smallbone was arrested on a fugitive warrant in San Francisco.

The 38-year-old Douglas man told Judge F. Scott Peasley through his public defender that he feared for his life if he were to show up for his plea hearing Tuesday.

In the meantime, it seems he was on his way to San Francisco, and was arrested by police officers there about four hours after his 3:30 p.m. hearing ended in a Douglas courtroom, according to the Converse County Sheriff’s Office.

 someone had put up to bond him out of jail last month.

That comes out to $62,500 for each hour of freedom he had between the time Peasley issued a new fugitive warrant for Smallbone and the time he was arrested in San Francisco, said Sheriff Clint Becker.

“Yeah, that’s about it. That’s pretty expensive,” Becker told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday morning. “I don’t know who put up the bond for him, but that’s the kind of chance you take.”

The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office confirms through its online inmate roster that Smallbone remains in custody there, being held on the Wyoming fugitive felony warrant.

Becker said he never doubted Smallbone would be caught again after a Fort Collins, Colorado, magistrate 

 there last week on his own recognizance instead of holding him for Wyoming authorities.

[{"type":"text","text":"But he’s pleased that happened as quickly as it did."}]

“We’re pretty happy with that, of course,” Becker said. “We didn’t want a person with those types of charges to be out and about. I had faith we would catch him.”

Becker said he couldn’t talk about just how his investigators — Lt. Ben Peech and Cpl. Amber Peterson — learned Smallbone was on his way to San Francisco. However, he praised their continued work on his case.

“I’m extremely proud of Lieutenant Peech and Corporal Peterson for their relentless dedication and professional investigative work,” he said. “Their persistence, combined with the excellent partnership and support of our colleagues in San Francisco, made this arrest possible.”

Smallbone also is supposed to return for another hearing in the Colorado court on Thursday to follow up on his arrest last week.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Hopefully …’"}]

Now that Smallbone has been caught fleeing Wyoming and the dozens of felony charges he faces here twice in less than a week, Becker said he hopes there isn’t a repeat of what happened in Colorado last week.

“That was my comment when I got called to let us know he was in custody,” the sheriff said. “Hopefully …”

Smallbone was arrested on a previous fugitive warrant in Fort Collins last Wednesday, and appeared the next day in Magistrate Heather Siegel’s courtroom, where she gave him a personal recognizance bond.

Officials in Wyoming and Colorado who worked to track Smallbone down have expressed frustration with that situation.

Kylie Masserman, a spokesperson with the Larimer County District Attorney’s Office in Colorado, told Cowboy State Daily via an emailed statement on Monday that the court had the proper documentation to hold Smallbone.

“The District Attorney’s Office strongly believes that this bond setting is dangerous and has put the communities in both Colorado and Wyoming at risk,” she said. “Giving a free pass to dangerous out-of-state offenders fleeing to Colorado sets a terrible precedent and risks further harm to the victims in the Wyoming case.”

Now that he’s been caught again, Becker said he’s confident Smallbone will be returned to Wyoming to face his charges.

And there will be more of those to face, Converse County Deputy Attorney Nate Shumway said during Tuesday’s hearing.

He told the judge that his office has filed amended charges against Smallbone that include the 72 he already had been hit with, plus more that he’s since picked up.

Those amended charges weren’t immediately available through the district court following the hearing.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Charges"}]

The list of charges against Smallbone is long, including:

• 1 count of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor.

• 36 counts of possessing child pornography.

• 16 counts of using a video camera to record intimate areas of another person without consent.

• 18 counts of knowingly manufacturing, generating, or creating child pornography.

• 1 count of possessing more than 3 ounces of marijuana (1.3 pounds).

He landed on the radar of the Converse County Sheriff’s Office after the mother of an underage girl reported concerning interactions her daughter had with Smallbone on May 9.

The girl was in a vehicle with Smallbone and others when he allegedly typed “if you suck me, I’ll lick you” on his phone and showed it to the girl, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Peech.

“He also mouthed the words, ‘I want to see you naked,’” the affidavit says.

Smallbone later denied mouthing anything or showing the girl any messages.

That, along with other alleged disturbing interactions with the girl at Smallbone’s home that evening, started an investigation that revealed a trove of photos, videos and other child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on his electronic devices, the affidavit says.

The investigation also showed Smallbone had been convicted in 2002 of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust in Douglas County, Colorado.

He also had registered as a sex offender in Wyoming in 2014, but it was “later determined not to be required to register in Wyoming due to him being a juvenile at the time of his adjudication in Colorado,” according to the affidavit.

That was in reference to a 2001 case when Smallbone was 12 and was accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl, the affidavit says.

While in treatment for that incident, he disclosed he also had sexual contact with at least seven other children, and five were younger than him at the time of the sexual contact.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What Investigators Found"}]

The case against Smallbone exploded when forensic examinations were performed on his cellphone and electronic devices, according to the affidavit.

On them, they found dozens of images and videos depicting prepubescent girls and boys performing a wide range of sex acts, the affidavit says. Many of the videos appear to have been created by Smallbone in rooms and spaces that are identifiable to connect them to alleged potential victims.

There also were videos of Smallbone having sex with an adult female, the affidavit says, adding that the woman told investigators she had no knowledge she was on camera.

The most disturbing allegations stem from a series of at least seven videos that the affidavit reports allegedly show a young girl having her pants pulled down and being subjected to having sex with a dog.

Along with the CSAM, investigators say they found “records indicating (his phone) had been used to connect to the Tor Browser, which is commonly used by subjects accessing CSAM to communicate within the Dark Web anonymously,” the affidavit says.

If convicted with maximum concurrent sentences, Smallbone could face up to 791 years in prison and fines of up to $710,000.

The most serious is the sexual abuse of a minor charge, which calls for a sentence of between 25 and 50 years.

Because of Smallbone’s apparent penchant for running from the charges, Sheriff Becker said his office was “very motivated” to catch him again.

“We’re concerned for the public,” he said. “Any of those types of investigations, the amount of time and work that goes into them is astounding.

[{"type":"text","text":"“And we really care about the kids in any of these types of crimes.”"}]

Smallbone San Fran 7 29 26

<title>Caught! Four Hours After Skipping Court, Accused Child Sex Abuser Arrested In Calif. | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Four hours after no-showing in court on 72 child sex and pornography charges in a Wyoming court on Tuesday, John C. Smallbone was caught in San Francisco. “We didn’t want a person with those types of charges to be out and about," said the sheriff.

Caught! Four Hours After Skipping Court, Accused Child Sex Abuser Arrested In Calif.

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

The copy of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s diary released this week shows the former White House COVID advisor fixating over the press, mentioning Wyoming's low vaccinations rates and praising former Rep. U.S. Liz Cheney for what Fauci called her courage in opposing the president. 

U.S. Sen Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, released the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director’s diary over the weekend in anticipation of a Wednesday hearing.

Fauci alternated fluidly between documenting death tolls and the “hot and heavy” coverage with which the press swarmed him. He documented his media features, interviews and appearances almost daily for months.

“The Fauci cult continues,” wrote Fauci in reference to August media reports.

[{"type":"text","text":"Wyoming features in the diary twice."}]

An April 10, 2020, entry documents calls with governors seeking Fauci’s guidance and to air their concern about the devastating economic fallout: “17 million jobs lost within the past 4 weeks.”

Even the massive infusion of federal relief dollars couldn’t spare the states, and some red-state governors urged counsel on how to get their people back to work safely, the entry says.

“Call with Gov. Mark Gordon of Wyoming – same discussion,” wrote Fauci. “What advice and counsel of returning to normal.”

“All these Governors are calling me because of my credibility and reputation to run their plans by me and ask for my opinion and help … message back to (the task force and president,” the director added.

A July 4, 2021, entry says Wyoming and other states had COVID surges due to lower vaccination rates. 

Former U.S. House Rep. Liz Cheney and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, appear multiple times in the diary.

Republicans and conservative news commentators started “blasting” Fauci for his shutdown policies on about May 13, 2020. So did Paul, in a May 12 Senate hearing.

[{"type":"text","text":"Julia Roberts mooned over Fauci that same week, the diary says."}]

“Dick Cheney called me to thank me for what I was doing and to say that he fully supported me,” wrote Fauci. “I acknowledged and thanked him and his daughter Liz for sticking up for me after the Senate Hearing yesterday.”

The former vice president was “muted in his criticism of Trump,” Fauci continued. “But he did agree that Trump was living in an alternative universe.”

Fauci wrote three days later that he told Vice President Mike Pence of how Cheney had called him into the White House 19 years prior to discuss the anthrax attacks.

[{"type":"text","text":"On Aug. 4, 2021, Dick Cheney called again, the diary says."}]

Cheney had had a heart transplant years prior and was on an immunosuppressive regimen, wrote Fauci.

“It is likely that his immune response two (sic) the vaccine is suboptimal.”

Cheney’s cardiologist recommended the former vice president call Fauci, the diary says.

“I made it very clear to Cheney that I strongly recommended he get the third boost of the mRNA since he is highly susceptible to getting infected if he comes into contact with an infected person,” Fauci wrote.

He added that they discussed “the courage of his daughter Liz Cheney and sticking up against the far right Republicans who want to whitewash the January 6th insurrection.”

Fauci voiced his appreciation “that she has been sticking up for me,” says the entry.

[{"type":"text","text":"What Wyoming's Pendley Remembers"}]

The diary also stunned a former Trump department head, who contrasted Fauci’s apparent fixation with media attention with the “traumatic” efforts others undertook to address COVID19.

William Perry Pendley, a Wyomingite who then led Trump’s U.S. Bureau of Land Management, criticized Fauci in a Monday post to X and a Tuesday interview with Cowboy State Daily.

“What struck me, and struck a lot of people on X, was just the contrast,” Pendley told Cowboy State Daily, “That while he’s getting over his celebrity status, hundreds of people at the Department of Interior are taking this very, very seriously, and regarding it as something from the White House saying this is a life-and-death matter. This is a national crisis.”

Pendley said with preparation, duration and follow-up directives, the meetings consumed two to three hours of each day. Interior leadership worried about the health of the roughly 70,000 employees under their umbrella, he said.

“While Fauci basked in the media's attention, I ran Trump's BLM & was on daily Zoom calls with Interior's number two official with scores of others,” wrote Pendley on X. “Untold hours by hundreds of employees were needed to prepare for & follow up on those needlessly traumatic meetings. Shame on him.”

Fauci’s diary also features his numerous concerns about deaths and sickness.

But first, Fauci opined in a Feb. 8, 2020, phone call that the virus was “acting like a bad influenza” and showed a case fatality rate of 0.2%-0.3%, his diary says.

The messaging was, “You’ve got to devote all your energy and skills to addressing this,” added Pendley in his interview.

[{"type":"text","text":"The ‘Hot And Heavy’ Press"}]

Entanglements and preoccupations with “press” that permeate nearly every entry.

“Press still hot and heavy about me,” says an April 7, 2020 entry. “Multiple stories per day directly or indirectly involving me.”

He documented the Fauci cartoons, Fauci underwear and other merchandise, news and book interviews, and the false claims and conspiracy theories about him that surfaced starting in 2020.

From about May through July 2020, Fauci documented numerous instances of complaining to White House personnel that he wasn’t placed in enough interviews, the diary shows.

Fauci also claimed embarrassment at receiving hugs and kisses from then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and at President Donald Trump touting Fauci’s intelligence to First Lady Melania.

And he lamented where, according to him, the press got the story wrong in its fervor to pit him as a “foil” against Trump.

Mainstream media and columnists elevated Fauci for his calm demeanor and his willingness to contradict Trump starting in spring of 2020. Fauci had pushed for longer business and school closures, while Trump urged the director, who was part of the White House’s COVID19 task force, to find a way to reopen the nation by Easter.

“Continued crazy stuff: Petition to name me ‘Sexiest Man Alive,’” says an April 1, 2020 entry. “Videos (sic) games named after me; Fauci Bobblehead; dishes in redstaurants (sic) named after me, and on and on.”

In that same entry Fauci documented a “good conversation” with Bill Gates regarding the advanced development and scaleup of vaccines.

That later contrasted with what Fauci called White House response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx’s unfavorable view toward mRNA vaccines. Fauci cast her discomfort as a prejudice.

[{"type":"text","text":"Celebrities, Vaccines, And The Red States Reopening"}]

An April 29, 2020, entry details a Zoom call between Fauci and a “whole list of celebrities,” organized by Kim Kardashian.

That list featured Kate Hudson, Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Chris Rock, Scooter Braun, Josh Gad, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Kendall Jenner, Ariana Grande, Paula Abdul, Demi Lovato, and Michael Jordan – to name a few.

Fauci noted the USA COVID case tally at 3 million that day and the death toll at 203,000.

Fauci urged repeatedly against letting the states “reopen” but when several did in mid-May, the virologist noted an interesting development.

“What is evolving is that states that are opening thus far are not seeing an increase in cases,” says a May 17, 2020, entry. “In fact, some are seeing decreases. We need another couple of weeks to se (sic) what is happening. Interesting that they might be paying attention more to mask use and social distancing as they open.”

But acute outbreaks still hit nursing homes, prisons, meatpacking plants and industries where workers lived in dormitory-like quarters, he wrote.

[{"type":"text","text":"“This is easily recognizable and quickly contained,” he wrote."}]

A June 25, 2020 entry says, “Contact tracing does not work.” He called contact tracing an abject failure.

He cast the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as incompetent – repeatedly across multiple entries.

He described an at-times affectionate, at-times icy relationship with Trump, almost always worsened by the press’s fervor in making Fauci a calm and well-informed anti-Trump figure.

A Feb. 12, 2020, entry has Fauci writing that World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

In the more than 1,100 pages of Dr. Anthony Fauci's diary released over the weekend, he mentioned Wyoming’s low COVID vaccination rates, his admiration of Liz Cheney and his conversations with Dick Cheney. He appeared fixated on the "hot and heavy" press.

You Still Here? Thursday, July 4, 2024

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