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
Parents Claiming Rock Springs School Was Transitioning Child Behind Their Backs Say Others Have Told Them It’s Happened Before
In a Zoom interview with Cowboy State Daily, Sean and Ashley Willey say since they sued the Rock Springs school system over allegedly gender transitioning their teen behind their backs, other Rock Springs families have said that’s happened to them as well.
Clair McFarland9 min read
Gillette Authorities Take Toddler Boys, Ages 1 And 2, After Both Parents Say They Don’t Want Them
Gillette authorities took possession of two toddler boys ages 1 and 2 Monday after the boys' mother drove to Wyoming from Louisiana to give them to their father, who also didn't want them, police say.
Clair McFarland3 min read
Thermopolis Man Who Sabotaged Trial Of Accused Meth Dealer Faces New Charges
A convicted meth dealer from Thermopolis who sabotaged another alleged meth dealer's trial by refusing to testify at the last possible moment now faces a new federal charge of dealing fentanyl in Cheyenne.
Clair McFarland3 min read
Fremont County Man Accused Of Strangling Fiancee When Served Leftovers Pleads Not Guilty
An Atlantic City, Wyoming man accused of strangling and beating his girlfriend after she warmed up leftovers instead of letting him cook elk steak last month pleaded not guilty Tuesday and asked the judge to let him see his young daughters.
Clair McFarland2 min read
Man Who Killed, Tried To Chop Up Laramie Romantic Rival Gets Up To 30 Years In Prison
Siblings of Mathew Caggiano, the man who was murdered and partially dismembered in a Laramie motel room last year, wept and held each other as they asked Albany County Judge Misha Westby on Tuesday to give Hunter Fulton the maximum sentence. That’s just what he got, between 26 and 30 years in prison.
Clair McFarland6 min read
Boysen Tornado Topples And Flattens Campers, Marina Says
The Boysen Marina management announced late Friday that a tornado crashed across the lake that afternoon, downing power lines, toppling and flattening campers, but only causing minor injuries.
Clair McFarland2 min read
Cody Police Officer Put On Paid Leave After Video Of Angry Traffic Stop Goes Viral
Cody Police Department Officer Blake Stinson is now on paid leave after the public reacted to a segmented video in which he appears to yell at and aggressively handle a teen during a traffic stop.
Clair McFarland5 min read
Rock Springs Man Accused Of Luring 15-Year-Old To Have Sex In His Jeep Was Actually Talking To An Undercover Cop
Michael Nelson, 24, of Rock Springs faces up to 12 years in prison after the town's police department befriended him on Facebook using a contrived 15-year-old girl online persona, which Nelson allegedly tried to seduce.
Clair McFarland3 min read
Yellowstone Concession Worker Accused Of Slamming Girlfriend Into Bathroom Floor During Hourlong Episode Of Abuse
Anthony Flores, who lives in a worker dorm in Yellowstone National Park, faces up to 16 years in prison on suspicion of strangling his girlfriend, scratching her face and slamming her head into the bathroom floor because she was at the pub too long.
Clair McFarland6 min read
Casper Target Moves Its LGBTQ Pride Collection To The Back Of The Store
Casper's Target store pulled its LGBTQ "Pride" collection down Thursday and sent many items to the back of the store, but the Cheyenne Target hadn't done so as of Thursday afternoon. The move follows national boycotts over the collection's inclusion of kids' toys and clothes.
Clair McFarland4 min read
Feds Paid Wyoming Farmers $5.5 Million Not To Farm In 2022
The federal Conservation Reserve Program doled out $5.5 million to Wyoming farmers last year in exchange for not farming certain plots of land, a $2 million increase from 2021.
Clair McFarland3 min read
U.S. House Votes To Kill Biden Student Loan Forgiveness Plan
Two Democrats joined every Republican in the U.S. House on Wednesday to shut down President Biden's trillion-dollar student loan forgiveness plan, but the resolution now faces the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Clair McFarland3 min read
Wyoming's Top Dem Blasts Degenfelder's Plan To Purge Critical Race Theory
Senate Minority Floor Leader Chris Rothfuss says he is speaking for all Wyoming Democrats in telling State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder that getting rid of critical race theory is partisan political maneuver.
Clair McFarland4 min read
Unlike South, Wyoming’s Target Stores Keep LGBTQ ‘Pride Collection’ Display For Kids & Adults Up Front
Although some Target stores in the South have moved their LGBTQ “Pride Collection” merchandise for children and adults to the back of its stores, in Casper and Cheyenne, the merchandise is still in front.
Clair McFarland5 min read
As Wyoming's Top Educator, Degenfelder Wants More Transparency With Parents
Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder says schools must be transparent and respect the rights of parents to raise their children to rebuild trust between parents and schools.
Clair McFarland6 min read
Rock Springs Parents Say Secret Phone Proves School District Is Still Socially Transitioning Their Child
In a heated volley of federal court filings, Ashley and Sean Willey say they've found their high school daughter's secret cellphone, which shows three Sweetwater County School District No. 1 teachers are still calling the girl by a boy's name and pronouns against their wishes.
Clair McFarland6 min read
Fremont County Man Allegedly Strangles Fiancée For Serving Leftovers Instead Of Steak
A Fremont County, Wyoming, man grew "frustrated" when his fiancée warmed up leftovers instead of letting him cook elk steak, then allegedly strangled and smashed her into a wall, court documents claim.
Clair McFarland6 min read
Gillette Landlord, Tenant Dead In Murder-Suicide
Authorities believe Patrick M. Mahoney shot Steven E. Hague in the shoulder, then shot himself in the head, before authorities found them both dead Friday at a burning camper north of Gillette.
Clair McFarland3 min read
Sublette County Sheriff Says He Had Authority To Search Rex Rammell's Horses
Sublette County Sheriff K.C. Lehr is pushing back against failed gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell, who wants $12 million for claims that they had no right to search his horses and hit him with criminal charges.
Clair McFarland5 min read
Bounty Hunter Films Cheyenne Man Turning Himself In After SWAT Team Couldn't Find Him
Joey Carabajal Jr., 18, told Cheyenne police he believes the bullet that killed his 15-year-old cousin was meant for him days before a SWAT team failed to find him.
Clair McFarland8 min read
Family Of Woman Found Dead In Car In Yellowstone Say She Was ‘Just A Country Girl’ With A Fiery Temper
The mother and brother of Catheryn Griffin, who was found dead in a car that lodged in a snowbank in Yellowstone on Saturday, say they’ll remember her as “just a country girl” who sometimes had a fiery temper.
Clair McFarland4 min read