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
State Trooper Arrests Suspected Illegal Immigrant With 18,000 Rounds Of Ammunition
An illegal immigrant was arrested Friday near Rawlins for carrying 18,000 rounds of rifle ammunition, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol. Ricardo Paez-Quinones faces up to 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and/or deportation if convicted.
Clair McFarlandMarch 17, 2025
Riverton Man Accused Of Beating Friend To Death Strikes Plea Deal Before Trial
A Riverton man accused of beating his friend to death and leaving him for his parents to find has agreed to plead guilty. The agreement came just days before his manslaughter trial was to start Monday.
Clair McFarlandMarch 17, 2025
Clair McFarland: Mom Says No More Mountain Haggery On The Video News
Columnist Clair McFarland writes: "Mom wants me to look clean and polished on Cowboy State Daily’s video newscast. But I want to exude enough mountain haggery to terrify the out-of-staters."
Clair McFarlandMarch 15, 2025
Ski-Lift Accident Kills Montana Skier But Experts Say Fatalities Are Rare
A Billings skier died earlier this week after he fell out of a ski chair lift in Red Lodge, Montana. One expert told Cowboy State Daily that although accidents do happen, statistics show "chairlift fatalities are very, very, very rare."
Clair McFarlandMarch 14, 2025
'Bitcoin Billionaire' Wanted In All 50 States After Friend Pays, Loses $50K Bond
Investigators say a man who cast himself as a ‘bitcoin billionaire’ during a Jackson Hole spending spree was committing fraud. He skipped court this week - after convincing a friend to pay his $50,000 cash bond. Kevin Segal is now wanted in all 50 states.
Clair McFarlandMarch 14, 2025
AG's Office Says Gillette Judge Didn't Break Rules By Holding Public Defender In Contempt
The judge who fined a public defender $100 and ordered him to write an apology letter for being late says he followed the rules in doing so. The public defender quit after paying the fine and writing the letter.
Clair McFarlandMarch 14, 2025
Judge Orders Trump To Reinstate Fired National Park Service Employees
A federal judge issued a scathing rebuke Thursday and ordered the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of probationary employees fired last month, including 1,000 at the National Park Service. The White House called the order "absurd and unconstitutional."
Clair McFarlandMarch 14, 2025
Fort Washakie 18-Year-Old 'Allegedly' Jumped From Car To Her Death, Initial Report Says
A Wyoming Highway Patrol preliminary investigative report published this month says Stephanie Bearstail, an 18-year-old Fort Washakie student, "allegedly" jumped from a moving vehicle to her death March 4.
Clair McFarlandMarch 13, 2025
Former Sheridan Assistant Principal Gets 3-5 Years For Sex With 18-Year-Old Student
Former Sheridan High School Assistant Principal Jacob Meyer, 34, was sentenced Thursday to between three and five years in prison after being convicted of having sex with one of his students, who was 18 at the time.
Clair McFarlandMarch 13, 2025
Murder-For-Hire Trial On Hold While Cody Woman's Mental Health Tested
Two days before her trial on a murder-for-hire charge was set to begin, a Cody woman had it delayed by asking for a mental health test. Investigators say she tried hiring a hitman to kill her daughter’s boyfriend.
Clair McFarlandMarch 13, 2025
Man Dead In Officer-Involved Shooting At Uinta County Business
Uinta County Sheriff’s deputies and U.S. Marshals personnel were involved in a shooting on Wednesday that killed a suspect who had felony-level warrants, authorities told Cowboy State Daily.
Clair McFarlandMarch 13, 2025
Judge Won't Quit Transgender Case Over Pronouns Rule, Volleyball Players Try Appeal
A federal judge said he will not recuse himself from a lawsuit over a transgender player’s inclusion on a college women’s volleyball team. The women who asked for the recusal requested an appeal Wednesday.
Clair McFarlandMarch 12, 2025
Degenfelder Praises Dept. Of Education Cuts, Says They Will Empower Parents
Wyoming education chief Megan Degenfelder praised President Trump for slashing staff at the U.S. Dept. of Education. "We’re taking education decisions out of the hands of unelected officials and giving them back to parents and teachers," she said.
Clair McFarlandMarch 12, 2025
Prosecutor Says Casper Man Accused Of Illegal Gambling ‘Knew What He Was Doing’
Wyoming’s gambling laws aren’t so vague that a Casper businessman accused of running illegal gambling houses couldn’t have known he was breaking the law, a state prosecutor says. Scott Lee Shroefel “knew what he was doing,” she argued.
Clair McFarlandMarch 12, 2025
Accused Gillette Wife-Stabber Sane Enough For Trial, State Hospital Says
A Wyoming state mental health evaluator says a Gillette man was sane enough to realize what he was doing when he allegedly stabbed his wife eight times. She survived the terrifying attack, and his attempted second-degree murder trial is set for June.
Clair McFarlandMarch 12, 2025
Supreme Court Won’t Block Climate Change Lawsuits In Wyoming, Other Red States
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a request from Wyoming and 18 other red states to block a handful of other states, including California, from suing oil and gas companies in their own courts over climate change.
Clair McFarlandMarch 11, 2025
Big Piney Teens Accused Of Killing Man In Bow-And-Arrow Ambush Sent To Higher Court
A pair of Big Piney teens could get life in prison or the death penalty if convicted of working together to kill a local man with a bow and arrows. A judge sent their case to a higher court Tuesday.
Clair McFarlandMarch 11, 2025
Two Charged For Allegedly Helping Hide 'Armed And Dangerous' Gillette Suspect
Two people have been charged with helping an 18-year-old attempted-murder suspect elude law enforcement in Campbell County. Each could face up to three years in prison if convicted of being accessories after the fact.
Clair McFarlandMarch 11, 2025
In Sweetwater County, Law Enforcement Nabs 12 People For ICE In One Day
The jail in Sweetwater County took custody of 12 people on Thursday for ICE. The sudden influx, which consisted entirely of males between the ages of 21 and 41, is well above the jail’s daily average of ICE detainee bookings.
Clair McFarlandMarch 11, 2025
Mexican National In 'Catastrophic' Crash That Killed Two Pleads Guilty
A Mexican national who smashed into a Harley trike, killing its two riders, pleaded guilty to killing one of the people Monday. Through an interpreter, he told the judge he was drunk and high in August 2023 when he hit the Harley south of Torrington, Wyoming.
Clair McFarlandMarch 10, 2025
$1 Million Bond, Attempted Murder Charge For Gillette 18-Year-Old In Shooting
A Gillette judge Monday set bond at $1 million for an 18-year-old charged with shooting another teen before eluding arrest for four days. Kamren Crousore was caught Saturday evening and has been charged with attempted second-degree murder.
Jen Kocher & Clair McFarlandMarch 10, 2025