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
FBI Investigating Murder After Wind River Reservation Man Found With Throat Cut
The FBI’s Denver office confirmed to Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday that it’s investigating the death of Gustave Yellowhair, 37, who was found on the Wind River Reservation on March 20 with a sliced carotid artery, jugular vein and larynx.
Clair McFarlandApril 19, 2023
Wyoming Supreme Court Says Cheyenne Cops Entered Man’s House Illegally, Overturns Conviction
Police officers who pushed past a pregnant woman to enter a home, struggle with and arrest man acted illegally, the Wyoming Supreme Court has ruled in overturning Myron Woods’ conviction for interference.
Clair McFarlandApril 19, 2023
Wyoming Trooper Stops To Help Stranded California Woman, Finds 2,000 Fentanyl Pills
A Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper who stopped to help a California woman who ran out of gas outside of Rock Springs soon smelled marijuana and found the woman's explanations shifty. So, he deployed a drug dog, which found more than 2,000 fentanyl pills and nearly 12 pounds of methamphetamine in her car.
Clair McFarlandApril 18, 2023
UW Police Beef Up Patrols Near Sorority As Judge Doubles Down On Naming Plaintiffs In Transgender Lawsuit
The University of Wyoming Police Department sends extra patrols to the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house for a variety of reasons – not just because seven women suing the sorority for inducting a transgender member have been ordered to reveal their true names.
Clair McFarlandApril 18, 2023
Casper Man Who Died In Jail Despite Medical Clearance Had OD’d On Meth, Report Says
After 62-year-old Wayne Sanchez was arrested at the scene of a minor crash March 8 and medically cleared by Banner Medical Center in Casper, he was taken to jail, where he died. A coroner’s docket released Tuesday says he died of a meth overdose.
Clair McFarlandApril 18, 2023
Woman Who Stabbed Nephew To Death Escapes From Casper Halfway House
Rachelle Lynch, 25, was sentenced to five to 13 years in prison for stabbing her 20-year-old nephew during a drunken knife fight in 2019. When she failed to return as scheduled to a Casper halfway house Monday, authorities reported Lynch as an escapee.
Clair McFarlandApril 18, 2023
Wyoming Reservation Man Found With Neck Sliced Was Murdered, No Suspect Named
The Fremont County Coroner’s office has determined that Gustave Yellowhair, 37, was the victim of murder by a slice across his carotid artery and jugular vein. Federal authorities haven’t yet charged a suspect.
Clair McFarlandApril 17, 2023
Serial Wyoming Coffee Hut Flasher Pleads Guilty After Barista Pours Hot Water In His Lap
Andrew Crawford, 34, of Cody, already on probation for accessing child pornography, has pleaded guilty to four counts of exposing himself to women at drive-thru coffee shops.
Clair McFarlandApril 17, 2023
In Rare Time Fishing Alone, Wyoming Dad Reels In Record Longnose Suckerfish
With four kids, 12 chickens, a busy job and an outdoors podcast, Patrick Edwards doesn't always get to fish alone. But when he did recently, he caught a record-shattering fish from a secret bend of the Wind River.
Clair McFarlandApril 17, 2023
No Anonymity: Judge Says University of Wyoming Women Suing Sorority Over Transgender Member Must Use "True Names"
Acknowledging both growing violence around transgender issues and the public's right to follow court proceedings, a federal judge on Friday filed a second order denying anonymity for seven women suing the Kappa Kappa Sorority for inducting transgender member Artemis Langford.
Clair McFarlandApril 15, 2023
Panel Orders Wind River Tribes To Pay Energy Company $13 Million For Oil Field Infrastructure
An energy company this week asked a federal court to ensure that the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Tribes pay it $13 million for infrastructure the tribes gained when they stopped leasing an oil and gas field to the company.
Clair McFarlandApril 14, 2023
Riverton Man Who Broke Newborn Twin Girls’ Legs Gets 16-20 Years In Prison
Before sentencing Anthony Long to 16 - 20 years in prison, a Fremont County judge said the violence toward Long's twin newborn girls was "monstrous" and his explanation of how they received their injuries was "absurd."
Clair McFarlandApril 14, 2023
Wyoming Public Media Might Leave Twitter Because Elon Musk Tagged NPR "Government Funded Media"
Wyoming Public Media does not want to leave Twitter, but will if Elon Musk’s social media platform persists in calling its parent National Public Radio "state-affiliated" and "government-funded" media.
Clair McFarlandApril 13, 2023
Man Who Stole $7,500 Bottle Of Scotch In His Crotch Gets Probation, Will Be Able To Stay In U.S.
A Romanian immigrant who smuggled a $7,500 bottle of scotch out of a Jackson Hole liquor store in his crotch will be able to stay in the U.S. after an agreement to reduce his charges to a misdemeanor.
Clair McFarlandApril 13, 2023
170 Years In Prison For Casper Man Who Admitted Having Sex With 13-Year-Old
A federal court judge threw the book at Salvador Salas Jr., 32, of Casper, for drugging and having sex with a 13-year-old girl under the pretense of mentoring her. The 170 years in prison and more than $130,000 in restitution is appropriate for a “sexual predator … who manipulated people that trusted him,” said the U.S. attorney prosecuting Salas.
Clair McFarlandApril 13, 2023
About Half Small-Town Wyoming Bars Report Bud Light Boycotts
Small-town bars in Wyoming are reporting more Bud Light boycotts than larger towns. Cowboy State Daily surveyed 14 rural bars around the state to see how sales were influenced after the company chose transgender "influencer" Dylan Mulvaney to promote the beer.
Clair McFarlandApril 13, 2023
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