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
Cheyenne Suicide Prevention Group Employee Tells Woman To Jump Off A Bridge
A verbal altercation that reportedly had an employee of a Cheyenne suicide prevention organization telling someone to jump off a bridge has led to many calls for her to be fired.
Clair McFarlandApril 12, 2023
Oregon Man Moves To Green River, Gets Imprisoned 24 Years For Making Child Porn
After a recent move to Green River, Wyoming, from Oregon, Carl Picano will spend the next 15-24 years in prison for making and sharing child sex videos and photos of a preschooler.
Clair McFarlandApril 12, 2023
For The Love Of The Game: Fremont County Girls Travel Three Hours A Day To Play Softball
It’s 90 miles from Riverton High School to the softball field in Worland. Almost every day, 13 high school girls travel across a corrugated lake, an icy canyon and a sweep of farmland to get to practice. After 90 minutes of practice, they’ll zigzag another 90 miles back home.
Clair McFarlandApril 11, 2023
Casper Double Killer Was High On Meth, Irritated By Victims' Whispering
Luke Young's confession about how he killed two traveling companions surfaced in his case file this week, revealing they were all high on meth when Young, annoyed that his two traveling companions were whispering, shot them both on the side of a Wyoming highway.
Clair McFarlandApril 11, 2023
Mexican Immigrant In Gillette Faces 15 Years In Prison For Forged U.S. Birth Certificate
A Mexican immigrant in Gillette could face 15 years in prison and $250,000 in fines for trying to get a passport with a fake birth certificate.
Clair McFarlandApril 11, 2023
Biden Ends Covid Emergency; Wyoming Legislators Say "It's About Time"
President Joe Biden announced on Monday evening that the COVID-19 pandemic is officially no longer a national health emergency. Wyoming lawmakers say he's only about three years late. Â Â
Clair McFarlandApril 11, 2023
Gillette Man Accused Of Shooting Brother Pleads Not Guilty
A Gillette man accused of shooting his brother in the arm after a heated argument has pleaded not guilty to attempted second-degree murder, a charge punishable by between 20 years and life in prison.
Clair McFarlandApril 10, 2023
Citing Violence Against Swimmer Riley Gaines, University Of Wyoming Sorority Members Ask Judge To Reconsider Anonymity
Citing violence against women's rights activist Riley Gaines, members of a University of Wyoming sorority on Friday asked a federal judge to reconsider their request for anonymity in a lawsuit against the sorority for admitting a transgender woman.
Clair McFarlandApril 08, 2023
Wind River Reservation Man Accused Of Double Murder Pleads Not Guilty Â
Brandon Monroe, who was 16 when Jocelyn Watt and Rudy Perez died of gunshot wounds on Watt's bedroom floor, pleaded not guilty Friday to murder, while also evoking a mental incompetency plea.  Â
Clair McFarlandApril 07, 2023
Kemmerer Mom Sentenced To Probation, Babysitter Still Facing Murder Charge For 5-Year-Old's Death
Kayla Kartchner, who was arrested for drug possession after a babysitter allegedly murdered her five-year-old last November, received a probation sentence this week.Â
Clair McFarlandApril 07, 2023
Judge Denies University of Wyoming Sorority Women, Transgender Member Anonymity In Lawsuit
The seven women suing Kappa Kappa Gamma for inducting a transgender woman into its Wyoming chapter have until April 20 to reveal their true names in open court, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
Clair McFarlandApril 07, 2023
Wyoming Bars Report No Sales Change For Bud Light So Far
So far, bars throughout major Wyoming towns reported no discernible changes in Bud Light sales - up or down - since the company last week sponsored transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney
Clair McFarlandApril 06, 2023
If You Can't Defeat Your Foes, Confuse Their Children To Death With Rubik's Cubes
Clair McFarland writes: Back in the pre-Youtube days, which I keenly remember, thugs and warlords would give Rubik’s Cubes to children as a psychological attack meant to cripple the nation.
Clair McFarlandApril 06, 2023
Sundance Man Faces Decades In Prison For Slamming Children Against Bath Tubs And WallsÂ
Joshua Idler faces up to 42 years in prison if convicted on all counts of child abuse and assault relating to allegations that he choked, hit, threw and kicked his children, and tried to push his pregnant wife out of a moving van. Â
Clair McFarlandApril 06, 2023
Wyoming Attorney General Appoints New DCI Director From Within The Agency Â
Wyoming Attorney General Bridget Hill on Wednesday afternoon appointed Ronnie Jones, a top commander for the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, to head the agency in May upon the retirement of current director Forrest Williams.  Â
Clair McFarlandApril 06, 2023
Double Jeopardy Doesn't Spare Man Convicted Of Stomping On Woman's HeadÂ
Double jeopardy doesn’t apply in the case of the Ethete man who was convicted of charges in tribal court for stomping on a woman's head, and now is being charged again on the federal level. Â
Clair McFarlandApril 05, 2023
Bus Topples Near Wheatland, Injuring 11 Texas Farm Workers Headed To Washington
When the driver failed to navigate a curve on I-25, a 40-person bus full of contract farmers headed from Texas to Washington toppled outside of Wheatland, injuring 11 people.Â
Clair McFarlandApril 05, 2023
University of Wyoming Professor Urges Supreme Court To Rule In Favor Of NRA
George Mocsary, a University of Wyoming law professor who advised the U.S. Supreme Court in a 2022 landmark gun-rights case, now has submitted a document urging the high court to uphold the NRA's ability to do business with banks and insurance companies.Â
Clair McFarlandApril 05, 2023
Son Recalls How Wamsutter Tow Truck Driver Who Died In I-80 Crash 'Taught Me About Being A Man'Â
Kirby Lugg died early Monday when an 18-wheeler hit him as he tried to winch a car out of the barrow ditch between Interstate lanes, but he leaves behind a grateful family and a legacy of fatherhood. Â
Clair McFarlandApril 04, 2023
Atheist Sues Gillette For $24 Million Because Christian Prayers At City Council "Mock His Beliefs"
Bruce Williams, an atheist, is suing his town of Gillette, saying city leaders let Christian groups determine who says invocations at government meetings. This creates "a mockery of my Atheist beliefs through its deliberate preference for Christianity," he said.
Clair McFarlandApril 04, 2023
Park County Defends Denial Of California Cellphone Tower, Says Worries Over Health, Property Values Valid
Responding to a California cellphone tower company's lawsuit against it, the Park County Commission says it has every right to deny a building permit for a new cellphone tower in light of residents' health and property concerns.
Clair McFarlandApril 04, 2023