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
Former Rock Springs Teacher Emailed Student About Gender Transition
In an ongoing lawsuit about whether a Rock Springs school district helped to gender-transition a girl behind her parents' backs, the district is asking the judge not to let a former teacher's emails - which have surfaced in the case file - go to trial.
Clair McFarlandApril 24, 2025
Hotel Housekeeper Accused Of Stealing Elderly Couple's Coins Makes Plea Deal For Probation
The former head housekeeper of the Plains Hotel in Cheyenne agreed to a plea deal for probation in a stolen coin case. Rene Maria Manzanares is accused of stealing nearly $26,000 in coins from an elderly couple who lost their home in a mudslide.
Clair McFarlandApril 24, 2025
Cheyenne Voodoo Man Charged With Tearing Up Election Center Says He Was Set Up
Nicknamed "Wisdom," Joshua Hayden-Ali, is choosing to have a bench trial in which a judge, not a jury, will decide if he's guilty of tearing up an election center. He told Cowboy State Daily he's been set up by a secret organization.
Clair McFarlandApril 23, 2025
Uzbekistani Trucker Accused Of Chasing Another Trucker With Knife
An Uzbekistani truck driver was arrested after a road rage incident along Interstate 80 in southwest Wyoming, which escalated into him chasing another trucker with a knife, court documents say. He's scheduled for a Friday court hearing.
Clair McFarlandApril 23, 2025
Body Found On Wind River Reservation May Be Missing Father, Daughter Says
Authorities declined Tuesday to confirm to Cowboy State Daily whose body they found on the Wind River Reservation, but the daughter of a man missing since December said it may be her father.
Clair McFarlandApril 23, 2025
Wyoming Man Accused Of Having Deceased Child Porn Gets 22-27 Years In Prison
A Wyoming man originally accused of having pornographic images of babies, toddlers and dead children has been sentenced to 22-27 years in prison. He pleaded “no contest” to 23 of the 54 child porn charges against him, says a Tuesday court order.
Clair McFarlandApril 22, 2025
Newcastle Police Find Unexploded Bottle Bombs, Shoot Them To Neutralize
Newcastle police are investigating the discovery of three 2-liter bottle bombs on a sidewalk in town. Filled with drain or toilet-bowl cleaner and aluminum foil, the bombs were safely exploded from a distance by shooting them.
Clair McFarlandApril 22, 2025
Gillette Man Faces Attempted Murder Charge In Shooting Of Romantic Rival
A 22-year-old Gillette man is accused of shooting a man whom he called the ex-boyfriend of a woman he was seeing. He faces a charge of aggravated assault and attempted second-degree murder. Â
Clair McFarlandApril 22, 2025
Ousted Librarian Sues Campbell County After Pride Month, Books Controversies
Former Campbell County public library director Terri Lesley on Monday sued the county, two county boards and six county leaders and employees, alleging discrimination. Lesley was fired in 2023 after years of sparring over LGBTQ and sexually-themed books.
Clair McFarlandApril 22, 2025
Judge Halts Wyoming’s Newest Abortion Laws During Lawsuit
A retired judge halted Wyoming’s two newest abortion restrictions Monday during a lawsuit challenging them as unconstitutional. One requires ultrasounds and the other that the state’s only abortion clinic certify as a surgical center.
Clair McFarlandApril 21, 2025
Lawsuit Claims Man Molested Girls While He Was Jackson Hole Fire Chief
A former Jackson Hole fire chief charged with child sex crimes in Utah is now being sued by two girls who claim he abused them and distributed nude photos of them. They were younger than 7 and 5, and he would have been in Jackson for part of that timespan.
Clair McFarlandApril 21, 2025
Protestors To Rally Against Trump Across Wyoming, Nation’s Most Trump-Friendly State
Wyoming protestors plan to rally Saturday across Wyoming against President Donald Trump and his policies — even if they they're appealing to folks in the most Trump-friendly state in the nation.
Clair McFarlandApril 19, 2025
Wyoming Tribe's Law Firm One Of The Few Fighting Trump's Big-Law Orders
While nine law firms have made deals to avoid President Donald Trump’s orders targeting them, the one that works for Wyoming’s largest federally recognized Indian tribe is continuing to fight the federal government in court.
Clair McFarlandApril 18, 2025
Standoff Suspect Thrust Katana Sword Through Door, Pointed BB Pistol, Police Say
The Riverton man who barricaded himself inside home for 11 hours this week thrust a Samurai-style katana sword through a door at cops, police say. He also brandished a BB gun that looked like a Sig Sauer pistol.
Clair McFarlandApril 18, 2025
Oregon Man Charged With Assault Says Yellowstone Flagger Jumped In Front Of Jeep
An Oregon man faces the felony charge of attacking a government employee after authorities say he hit a Yellowstone National Park flagger with his Jeep. The man counters, saying the flagger jumped in front of his Jeep and tried to stop it with his hands.
Clair McFarlandApril 17, 2025
Clair McFarland: World’s Most Coddled Crime Reporter, Ready For Duty
Columnist Clair McFarland writes: "I have found after several years of covering crime, that where the capacity for violence is greatest, chivalry is also at its peak. It’s the most certain correlation I’ve found in this job."
Clair McFarlandApril 17, 2025
Brief: Gillette Man Didn’t Know Gun Was Loaded When He Shot Pet Cat Dead
A 19-year-old unintentionally killed an 8-year-old pet tabby cat while using it for what he thought was dry-fire, or unloaded, target practice inside a Gillette home Wednesday morning, police say.
Clair McFarlandApril 17, 2025
Riverton Standoff Suspect Was Supposed To Get Probation, Then Skipped Court
A Riverton man who prompted an 11-hour police standoff Wednesday and Thursday was wanted because he skipped a court hearing. At that hearing, he was supposed to receive probation on a felony-level charge for threatening to shoot up the local hospital. Â
Clair McFarlandApril 17, 2025
Wanted Riverton Man Tear-Gassed, Arrested To End 11-Hour Armed Standoff
A Riverton man wanted on a warrant for allegedly threatening to "shoot up" a hospital barricaded himself inside a house for about 11 hours before being tear-gassed and arrested just before 4 a.m. Thursday. He was armed with a knife and gun, police report.
Clair McFarland & Greg JohnsonApril 17, 2025
Wanted Riverton Man In Standoff With Law Enforcement
Riverton and Lander police officers and Fremont County Sheriff’s deputies have surrounded a Riverton home as of late Wednesday evening with their rifles out in an apparent standoff with a barricaded man wanted on a warrant.
Clair McFarlandApril 17, 2025
5 Teens From Wyoming Juvenile Facility Caught In Nebraska With Stolen Vehicles
Details remain sparse about five teens ages 14-17 who reportedly left a juvenile facility in Wyoming and fled through Nebraska in two stolen vehicles Sunday, then leading authorities on a foot chase.
Clair McFarlandApril 16, 2025