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
Hageman Says New J6 Committee Legitimate, Cheney’s Was Not
Rep. Harriet Hageman on Wednesday told Cowboy State Daily the new Jan. 6 committee she’s on will seek to probe and remedy security failures at the Capitol. She declined to critique Liz Cheney's prior investigative findings.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 18, 2025
Wyoming Faith Leaders Launch Peacemaker Group In Wake Of Charlie Kirk Killing
It wasn't set to mobilize until next year, but after Charlie Kirk's killing and other violence, its leaders decided now is the time to launch Become a Peacemaker. It's a new interfaith group dedicated to ending hostility and division across Wyoming.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 17, 2025
Wyoming Sorority Members Not Giving Up Legal Case Over Transgender Member
Three Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority members filed a notice Wednesday that they’re appealing their recent court loss over the induction of a transgender member into the sorority’s University of Wyoming chapter.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 17, 2025
Cheyenne Fifth Grade Teacher Accused Of Touching Girls Back In Jail
A Cheyenne fifth-grade teacher accused of sexually touching young female students throughout the 2024-25 school year is back in jail after being released on bond. That's because police say they also found child sex content on his phone.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 17, 2025
Former Green River Teacher, Coach Beaten With Baileys Bottle Dies
A former Green River teacher and coach who was beaten with a large bottle of Baileys liqueur has died. His wife, who is accused of wielding the bottle, now faces a second-degree murder charge.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 17, 2025
Wyoming Diesel 'Delete' Case Delayed, Accused Hopes It's A Sign EPA Is Backing Off
Accused of deleting emissions systems from diesel trucks in the heart of Wyoming's coal country, a Gillette man's federal plea hearing was delayed this week. His defense attorney said it could be a sign that the EPA is backing off.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 17, 2025
Adopted Son Who Dumped Dad's Body Near Mirror Lake Gets 24 Years
The adopted son of a Colorado man has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for killing his father after an argument, then dumping the body at Wyoming’s Mirror Lake. Investigators traced the crime using cellphone data and confessions to friends.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 16, 2025
Sheriff Warns Doing TikTok 'Door Kick Challenge' In Wyoming Can Get You Killed
A Wyoming sheriff warns that the viral TikTok "Door Kick Challenge" could have deadly consequences. One of the people who championed Wyoming's Stand Your Ground law wholeheartedly agrees.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 15, 2025
Widow Of Foster Friess Pledges $1 Million To Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA
Lynn Friess, widow of Wyoming businessman Foster Friess whose $10,000 donation kick-started Turning Point USA, pledged 100 times that Sunday. Her $1 million donation reflects her husband’s belief in Kirk and desire for TPUSA to “grow even stronger," she wrote.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 15, 2025
Couple Can Keep Suing Teton County Over Claim It ‘Extorted’ Permit Fees
A judge has ruled a couple building a home on their property can continue suing Teton County over a $24,325 fee they claim the county “extorted” them to pay. A county motion to dismiss the case was denied Thursday.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 15, 2025
Wyoming Democrats Saddened By Trump Reaction To Charlie Kirk Shooting
Wyoming Democrats said they were saddened Friday that President Trump hasn’t called for unity following the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Trump, instead, called the radical left “vicious."
Clair McFarlandSeptember 13, 2025
Legislators Work To Crack Down On Gambling ‘Houses,’ Not Bust Friendly Poker Games
Wyoming legislators on Thursday debated how to prosecute gambling houses and dealers who operate under the regulatory table — without jailing “grandma and her friends" for friendly poker games.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 13, 2025
Green River Woman Accused Of Trying To Kill Disabled Husband With Bailey's Bottle
A former Green River High School counselor is accused to repeatedly smashing a full bottle of Bailey’s liquor into the head of her disabled husband. She was charged Thursday with attempted second-degree murder and abusing a vulnerable adult.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 12, 2025
Push To Change Hulett Red Devils Mascot Sparks Outcry
Hulett faces a heated debate as an anonymous pamphlet proposes changing the school’s “Red Devil” mascot to a hawk, prompting confusion and community outcry.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 11, 2025
Jury Finds Haitian Trucker Guilty In Crash That Killed Rawlins EMT
The Haitian trucker who plowed into a crash scene nearly three years ago, killing one Rawlins EMT and seriously injuring another was found guilty on all charges by a jury Thursday. The trucker collapsed and wept as the verdicts were read.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 11, 2025
Wyoming Businessman Foster Friess Kick-Started Charlie Kirk's Turning Point Group
The person credited with kick-starting Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA organization was a rags-to-riches Wyoming businessman who ran for state governor in 2018. Foster Friess saw something in the young conservative crusader, who was killed Wednesday.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 11, 2025
Clair McFarland & Rod Miller: Dying For Speech Can't Be The New Normal
Clair McFarland and Rod Miller write: “To accept what happened to Charlie Kirk as par for the course is to say that, in America, bullets are more important than ideas. Don’t take the bait.”
Clair McFarland & Rod MillerSeptember 11, 2025
Jury To Deliberate Fate Of Haitian Trucker Who Killed Rawlins EMT On I-80
Whether Saviol Saint Jean was “threading the needle” to keep driving or reacting poorly to a chaotic scene when he smashed into an ambulance, killing one EMT and injuring another nearly three years ago is now up to a jury after a grueling five-day trial.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 11, 2025
Man Accused In Big Piney Ambush Says He Had No Idea Friend Was About To Be Killed
A Big Piney man accused of plotting the compound bow ambush death of his 23-year-old friend around Feb. 1 told a judge last week that he had no idea the alleged murder was about to unfold as he walked to his friend’s house that frigid night.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 10, 2025
Haitian Trucker Takes Stand In His Defense: 'Oh My God, What Happened?
Taking the stand on day four of his vehicular homicide trial in Green River, Haitian trucker Saviol Saint Jean said moments after the accident, which killed an EMT, he called to God saying, "Oh my God, oh my God, what happened?"
Clair McFarlandSeptember 10, 2025
Wyoming Targeted By Threat Of Child Porn Planting In Extortion Scheme
Wyoming law enforcement officials are warning about a scheme whose perpetrators claim child porn has been planted on people's devices to extort money. It starts with a letter through the U.S. Mail bearing a Canada stamp.
Clair McFarlandSeptember 09, 2025