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
Rawlins Man With Dementia, 73, Was Trying To Kill Caretakers When He Shot Them
Accused of shooting his caretakers and ramming their truck and semitrailer in a shootout-turned-chase, a 73-year-old Rawlins man with dementia faces two counts of attempted second-degree murder and other felony charges.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 12, 2023
State Park Crew Fights 2-Acre Boysen Dam Wildfire With Bathroom Cleaning Supplies
Wildfire and Wyoming State Parks crews put down a 2-acre brush fire at Boysen Dam on Monday with a local maintenance crew initially fighting the wildfire with their bathroom cleaning supplies. The fire's cause is under investigation.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 11, 2023
Wyoming School District Asks Court To Dismiss Former Student’s Mask Mandate Lawsuit
Saying former Laramie High School student Grace Smith has no grounds to sue over a mask mandate that expired two years ago, the Albany County School District No. 1 Board of Education is asking a federal judge to dismiss Smith’s lawsuit.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 11, 2023
Casper Rapist Won’t Get 20 Years Off Sentence After Young Victim Takes Back Recant
The Wyoming Supreme Court on Friday upheld a Casper man's conviction for sexually abusing a 5-year-old, noting that although the girl told police she lied about being molested, she later showed she was having a psychotic event when she recanted.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 11, 2023
State Attorney Says Pro-Choicers Shouldn’t Bring Drama To Wyoming’s Abortion Lawsuit
An attorney representing the state of Wyoming in a lawsuit challenging the state’s two new abortion bans is asking a Teton County judge to disregard a series of pro-choice expert witnesses.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 08, 2023
Massive Cache Of Drugs, Guns Found After Casper McDonald’s Turns Man In
A report from a Casper McDonald’s that a man was doing drugs in a bathroom eventually led to an arrest and seizure of a large cache of drugs, guns and money.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 08, 2023
Wyoming Points To Southern Court Siding With Pistol Braces, Awaits ATF Ruling
Wyoming and a handful of other states suing the ATF over its rule treating braced pistols like short-barreled rifles are waiting to see if a federal judge will consider a ruling out of the South, calling the new rule illegal.Â
Clair McFarlandSeptember 08, 2023
Casper Man Dies After Getting Hit In Intersection
Authorities on Friday said a man died in the hospital one day after being struck by a Chevy Equinox in a busy and rainy intersection in Casper just after dark
Clair McFarlandSeptember 08, 2023
Natrona County High Schools Have 11 Books On Sexually Explicit Opt-In List
High school students in Natrona County will need parental permission to check out any of the 11 books considered to contain “sexually explicit materials” on the school district’s initial opt-in list.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 07, 2023
Gillette Men Gash Each Other In Fight With Broken Corona Bottles
Arguing over whether to spend money to bring another family member into the United States, two immigrants in Gillette allegedly slashed and gashed each other with broken Corona beer bottles.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 07, 2023
Clair McFarland: Defying Gravity In A Wheeling Death Machine
Clair McFarland writes, "That’s the thing about a small aircraft and a brother pilot. You can fly over the rooftops that matter, instead of hurtling toward California over a patchwork quilt while a baby howls behind you and your seat neighbor suppresses a barf."
Clair McFarlandSeptember 07, 2023
Dubois Man Rams Truck With Hummer, Charges It With Knife
Dubois resident Chad Thomas, 45, told police he rammed a pickup with his Hummer and beat on its windows because he wanted to punch the truck’s driver “in the face.” He also reportedly brandished a knife.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 07, 2023
Wyoming Man Accused Of Randomly Golf-Clubbing Woman During Dice Game
A Fort Washakie man is accused of randomly walloping a woman in the back of the head with a golf club while she was playing dice with two others.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 07, 2023
Casper Man Accused Of Molesting Kids Faces Up To 440 Years If Convicted
A 39-year-old Casper man is accused of sexually abusing multiple children of various ages in numerous ways in 23 felony charges that could get him up to 440 years in prison if convicted.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 07, 2023
Try That In A Small Town: Sheriff Rounding Up Posse Against Smash-And-Grab Thieves
Laramie County Sheriff says there's a perception out there that criminals aren't going to get stopped so he's reviving an Old West law enforcement tradition by rounding up a posse of volunteers to guard against smash-and-grab thieves.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 06, 2023
UW Transgender Sorority Member Claims Harassment In MSNBC Interview
University of Wyoming sorority member Artemis Langford told MSNBC’s Yasmin Vossoughian this week about harassment and threats that have come as the result of a high-profile lawsuit over Langford’s induction into the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 06, 2023
Man Killed On Wind River Reservation Had Drug In His System
A docket from the Fremont County Coroner released to Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday says a 42-year-old man shot dead in a trailer Aug. 9 had Delta-9 THC in his system.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 05, 2023
Laramie Hospital Patient Charged For Smashing Up Room, Attacking Staff
A patient at a Laramie hospital faces felony charge for throwing chair, busting up a treatment room and swinging a piece of wood with a nail in it at a doctor.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 05, 2023
Sinclair Heiress Appeals $200 Million Divorce Payout, Most Expensive In Wyoming History
Anne Holding, daughter of Sinclair and Little America mogul Robert Earl Holding, is arguing to the Wyoming Supreme Court that a $202.5 million divorce payout — the most expensive in Wyoming history — wrongfully violates her family inheritance.Â
Clair McFarlandSeptember 05, 2023
Man Found Dead Under Lander Bridge Accidentally Drowned, Coroner Says
Laziur Hanway, 66, found dead by two boys July 1 under a bridge in Lander, died of accidental freshwater drowning, the coroner's office has ruled, with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.346.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 05, 2023
Even Adjusting For Inflation, Wyoming Education Costs Tripled Since The 1980s
Taking inflation out of the equation, Wyoming’s operational costs for schools have more-than tripled in the last 40 years to spending nearly $1.6 billion annually on school operating costs.Â
Clair McFarlandSeptember 02, 2023