Clair McFarland
Clair McFarland is a general assignment reporter for Cowboy State Daily and is based in Riverton, Wyoming. She specializes in crime and court reporting and social issues coverage. Clair also writes a twice-monthly column on motherhood and country living.
Previously, Clair wrote for The Ranger, the Lander Journal and the Wind River News. She is an award-winning journalist, columnist and poet, who joined Cowboy State Daily on Valentine's Day, 2022.
Latest from Clair McFarland
At Least 15 Union Pacific Railcars Off The Tracks At Walcott Junction
At least 15 Union Pacific railcars derailed Monday near Walcott Junction in central Carbon County, Wyoming, prompting responses from law enforcement, the railroad and the local power cooperative.
Clair McFarlandJune 09, 2025
Wyoming Legislators Warn One Big Beautiful Bill Could Let AI Run Wild
Wyoming legislators are concerned that the Trump-sponsored One Big Beautiful Bill could let artificial intelligence run wild and impede states’ abilities to govern against AI-related threats on their own.
Clair McFarlandJune 06, 2025
Proposal To Scrub Property Taxes From Constitution Went Too Far, Lawmakers Say
A proposal to remove the Constitution’s structure for property taxes advanced Tuesday in a state legislative committee. Looking back two days later, the committee's chairmen say eliminating all property tax clauses would be a step too far, and they plan to narrow that draft. Â
Clair McFarlandJune 05, 2025
Judge Dismisses Suit Of Wheatland Man Who Suffered Brain Damage In Jail
A federal judge dismissed the case of a Wheatland man who sued Platte County Sheriff’s Deputies for sending him to jail rather than the hospital despite his 0.357% blood-alcohol content. The man suffered a seizure and subsequent brain damage, court documents say.
Clair McFarlandJune 05, 2025
Sublette County Holds Back $2.7M For New Hospital In Feud With Hospital District
Sublette County and the local hospital district are feuding over the county holding back $2.7 million for a new hospital and long-term care facility. The county says the block is temporary, but the hospital district worries the delay will be costly.
Clair McFarlandJune 05, 2025
Rock Springs Couple Accused Of Having Orgies With Teen To Plead No Contest
A Rock Springs man is facing life while his girlfriend could spend 35 years in prison after both agreed to plead no contest to charges that they had orgies and committed other sexual abuse with a teenager for more than a year.
Clair McFarlandJune 04, 2025
Wyoming Democrats Are Going Broke And Don’t Want The Press To Report It
The Wyoming Democratic Party State Central Committee said during its Sunday meeting in Rock Springs that it's running at about a $5,000 per-month loss. The party also told the press not to report it.
Clair McFarlandJune 03, 2025
Campbell County Teen Who Stabbed Mom, Prompting Pig Raffle, Pleads Guilty
A Campbell County man faces 20 years to life in prison after he pleaded guilty last week to stabbing his mother in the back while she slept. To cover the cost of the $67,000 air ambulance ride, the family raffled off the man's pigs.
Clair McFarlandJune 03, 2025
Torrington Man Who Brutally Beat Ex As She Held Toddler Gets 20-25 Years
A Torrington man was sentenced to 20-25 years for the beating of his ex-girlfriend last year. She was holding the couple’s toddler when she was attacked. Also part of Andrew Atkinson's sentence was a strangulation charge pertaining to a different woman.
Clair McFarlandJune 02, 2025
Department Of Education Investigates UW For Trans Sorority Induction
The U.S. Department of Education on Monday announced it’s investigating the University of Wyoming because it “allowed a man to join a campus sorority." But UW was not the entity that inducted a transgender member into the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.
Clair McFarlandJune 02, 2025
Wyoming Dems Say Nothing Is Wrong With Platform But Will Target Rural Areas
Despite having just eight seats in the 93-member legislature and being on the heels of a rough national election, Wyoming Democrats overwhelmingly told Cowboy State Daily they aren't changing their platform. Their strategy, rather, is to volunteer in rural areas.
Clair McFarlandJune 02, 2025
Wyoming Democrats Elect New State Party Chairman To Replace Barbuto
Wyoming Democrats on Sunday elected Lucas Fralik of Laramie as its new state party chairman. Fralik characterized the party as tolerant toward immigration, diverse library content, same-sex marriage, and the working man.
Clair McFarlandJune 01, 2025
Insurance Company Says Natives Lured Out Of Wyoming With False Promises
Insurance companies believe Native Americans struggling with addiction are being lured from Wyoming to illegitimate treatment centers in California and other states in an insurance-billing scam. The facilities are often “rundown apartment complexes with no appropriate treatment."
Clair McFarlandMay 31, 2025
Body Cam Video Shows Casper Woman Pointing Gun At Cops Before She Was Killed
A Casper woman opened her door with a gun in hand and raised it at police officers before she was shot and killed, according to Casper Police Department body cam video released Friday. “Where the **** are my children!” she screamed as she raised the gun.
Clair McFarlandMay 30, 2025
Judge Dismisses Man's Racial Discrimination Lawsuit Against Cheyenne PD
A judge last week dismissed a lawsuit of an African American man who claims racial discrimination and physical aggression during a traffic stop by Cheyenne Police Department officers. He said they accused him of driving drunk when he'd had "not a drop."
Clair McFarlandMay 30, 2025
Husband Charged Six Months After Wife Found Dead In Their Star Valley Home
A Lincoln County man was arrested Tuesday after a six-month investigation into his wife's death. He's accused of attacking her during a drunken argument. The woman had secluded herself in her room after texting a friend that her husband had beaten her.
Clair McFarlandMay 30, 2025
Riverton Man Gets 6-12 Years For Drunken Fight That Killed Cousin
A Fremont County man was sentenced Thursday to between six and 12 years in prison for drunkenly beating his cousin to death last March. “I was robbed,” wailed the mother of the victim during the court proceeding.
Clair McFarlandMay 29, 2025
English-Speaking Trucker Enforcement Intensifies As Hageman Brings Bill
The push for tougher enforcement of English-language requirements for commercial truck drivers intensified Thursday when Harriet Hageman introduced a bill to make it a federal law. Wyoming trucking companies largely support the requirements.
Clair McFarlandMay 29, 2025
Cody Mom Accused Of Seeking Hit Man To Murder Daughter’s Boyfriend Deemed Sane
A murder trial is set for August for a Cody woman accused of trying to have her daughter’s boyfriend killed. A judge ruled that Wendy Coe, whose last trial derailed when she asked for a mental health evaluation, is mentally fit to stand trial. Â
Clair McFarlandMay 29, 2025
Out Of One Lawsuit, Into Another, As State GOP Argues For Private Group’s Right
Just as Wyoming Republican Party leaders dropped the party's lawsuit against the Laramie County Clerk, they launched a counter-argument in another case, where the party is being sued on claims it cheated its own election processes.
Clair McFarlandMay 29, 2025
Former Laramie High Schooler’s Lawsuit Over Masking Tossed For Second Time
A federal judge Wednesday dismissed the lawsuit of a former Laramie High School student who sued her local school district on claims that a 2021 mask mandate was unconstitutional. She was handcuffed and arrested on campus for refusing to comply with it.
Clair McFarlandMay 29, 2025