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
Man Accused Of Stealing $14 Million In Gold And Silver Strikes Plea Deal
A Las Vegas man accused of stealing about $14 million in gold and silver from a relative’s home in Lincoln County, Wyoming, pleaded no contest this week to one count of felony theft.
Clair McFarlandMay 03, 2025
Wyoming Supreme Court Gives State, Not Teton County, The Win On Glamping Lease
The state of Wyoming can authorize two businesses to operate on state lands in Teton County — despite the county’s land use regulations — the Wyoming Supreme Court has ruled. That's because the state lands board authorized the business using a temporary use permit, not a long-term lease.
Clair McFarlandMay 02, 2025
Eyewitness Recounts "Very Horrific” Crash That Killed 7 Outside Yellowstone
A man who witnessed the aftermath of a fiery crash that killed seven people outside the west Yellowstone entrance in Idaho on Thursday evening describes the scene as “very horrific.” State police are still investigating what caused the collision.
Clair McFarlandMay 02, 2025
Mom Of Sheridan Cop Killer Charged With Giving Him Guns Says He Stole Them
A woman charged with furnishing guns to her son, who then went on to shoot and kill a Sheridan police sergeant last year, says the government is withholding evidence that could show her son actually stole the guns from her.
Clair McFarlandMay 02, 2025
Fremont County Jelly-Maker Pleads Guilty To Transporting Meth From Las Vegas
A Riverton woman who sold homemade jelly at the Fremont County farmer’s market also was moving drugs, authorities say. She’s pleaded guilty to picking up meth and dumpster pot during a Las Vegas trip and bringing it back to Wyoming.
Clair McFarlandMay 01, 2025
Riverton Man Takes Gunshot Shrapnel While Confronting Suspected Burglars
Bobby Watts chased two burglars away from a Riverton business, helped deputies investigate, confronted one of the suspects on the road, and took some gunshot shrapnel to his upper arm Tuesday. Then he started his normal workday.
Clair McFarlandMay 01, 2025
Suspected Upton Bomb Maker Could Get Quadruple Prison Time As Feds Take Case
A man accused of setting a propane time-bomb at an Upton drilling yard has had his case switched from state court to federal. That means the potential five years in prison he could have gotten if convicted in state court has quadrupled.
Clair McFarlandMay 01, 2025
Freedom Caucus Wants Judicial Reform After Judge Rejects Gender Transition Suit
The Wyoming Freedom Caucus vows to reform the state’s judicial branch after a federal judge threw out a lawsuit in which parents accused a school district of helping their daughter change her gender identity.
Clair McFarlandMay 01, 2025
Tracking Earbuds Helped Wyoming Trooper Catch Man Who Took Off With Utah Teen
Using tracking data from a 17-year-old girl’s earbuds, and a photograph, a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper caught a 33-year-old man Sunday accused of taking the girl from her Utah hometown without her parents’ consent, authorities say.
Clair McFarlandApril 30, 2025
Wife And Mother Of Man Killed By Thermopolis Police Officer File Lawsuit
The wife and mother of a Thermopolis man killed by police Sgt. Mike Mascorro in 2023 filed a lawsuit Monday against Mascorro and the police. They claim Mascorro broke into Buck Laramore's house illegally, touching off a shootout that killed Laramore.
Clair McFarlandApril 30, 2025
Judge Sides With Rock Springs Schools, Tosses Parents' Gender-Transition Lawsuit
A Wyoming federal judge Monday ruled against a Rock Springs couple who sued their local school district on claims it helped socially gender-transition their high school daughter without their knowledge or consent.
Clair McFarlandApril 29, 2025
Lander Man Jury Couldn’t Convict Pleads Guilty To Murder
A Lander man whose trial had ended in a hung jury pleaded guilty Tuesday in the bludgeoning death of a 57-year-old man he had invited into his home last year.
Clair McFarlandApril 29, 2025
Transient Who Broke Laramie Woman’s Face Gets Strict Probation
A transient man who broke the face of a Laramie woman he dated two years ago was sentenced Tuesday to a two-month jail stint, followed by probation and treatment. The judge warned that if the man fails probation, he’ll go to prison for 6-8 years.
Clair McFarlandApril 29, 2025
Hageman Applauds Trump Exec Order To Get Non-English-Speaking Truckers Off Roads
U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman on Monday applauded President Trump's executive order designed to remove non-English-speaking truck drivers off the road. “I proudly support President Trump taking action to make our roads safer for truckers and private citizens alike," she said.
Clair McFarlandApril 29, 2025
Wheatland Man Gets Probation For Molesting 8-Year-Old Boy 40 Years Ago
The now-adult victim of a Wheatland man who molested him 40 years ago says he still lives with the consequences of being “raped 15-plus times.” Tyler Boyd, who was 14 when he abused the younger boy four decades ago, was sentenced Monday to probation.
Clair McFarlandApril 29, 2025
Rock Springs Man Who Stabbed Friend At Least 26 Times Gets 55 Years To Life
William Brewer, 34, was sentenced Monday in a Green River courtroom to between 55 years and life in prison for killing his friend in 2023. He stabbed his victim at least 26 times in what a prosecutor compared to a grizzly bear attack.
Clair McFarlandApril 29, 2025
One Dead In Officer-Involved Shooting During Casper Burglary Response
UPDATE: One person is dead after Casper Police Department officers responded early Monday to a scene with an armed burglar, the department says. "Shots were fired," and the person was taken to a hospital, and later died.
Clair McFarlandApril 28, 2025
'Urgent' Notice Issued For Air Force Member Wanted On Child Porn Allegations
The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations on Saturday issued an "urgent" notice about 27-year-old Airman First Class Branden Cecil Standifer. He's wanted on child porn allegations and was last seen at the Bozeman airport.
Clair McFarlandApril 26, 2025
ICE Wants Four Held On Drug Charges In Sheridan
Four men accused of smoking marijuana in a vehicle that also contained meth while swerving across a Sheridan road this week are now in jail — and on the radar of federal immigration officials. ICE wants local authorities to hold the men for the agency.
Clair McFarlandApril 25, 2025
Tribe Says Feds Shot Coyotes From Chopper Near Bison; Feds Claim 'Misinformation'
The Eastern Shoshone Tribe on Wednesday accused a federal agency of gunning coyotes from a helicopter near a bison herd without tribal permission. In response, the agency sent a cryptic comment calling the tribe’s claim “misinformation.”
Clair McFarlandApril 25, 2025
Oregon Cop Spent The Night Talking Riverton Barricade Suspect Off The Ledge
When a Newberg, Oregon, police officer started his night shift Wednesday last week, he had no idea he’d spend five hours on the phone with a barricaded man 1,000 miles away in Riverton, Wyoming.
Clair McFarlandApril 25, 2025