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
Laramie County Sheriff Calls In 'Trump' To 'Make VIN Inspections Great Again'
The Laramie County Sheriff’s Office called in Donald Trump to educate locals on VIN inspections. Or at least a deputy impersonating the president, who says even "Greenies" from Colorado need to get their vehicles checked when they change hands.
Clair McFarlandMarch 31, 2025
Brother Of Yellowstone Shooter Wants His Guns Sold, Money Go To Ranger He Shot
The brother of Lucas Fussner, who was killed in a shootout with rangers at Yellowstone last summer, says the government shouldn't be able to keep his car and other items. He wants his brother's guns sold and the money given to the ranger he shot.
Clair McFarlandMarch 31, 2025
'Coordinated' Hacking Hits Big Horn County ATMs For More Than $50,000
Two men suspected of a "coordinated" hacking scheme, stealing more than $50,000 from at least three ATMs in Big Horn County in mid-March, await extradition from a Denver jail. The pair each face up to 70 years in prison if convicted.
Clair McFarlandMarch 31, 2025
Irish Woman Sues Dubois Dude Ranch Over Ankle Crushed By Bear-Sprayed Horse
An Irish woman is suing a Wyoming dude ranch for a vacation gone wrong that left her with a crushed ankle. Her lawsuit, filed last week, claims the injury happened when a guide mistakenly bear-sprayed her horse.
Clair McFarlandMarch 31, 2025
Reservation Man Accused Of Rape Found Not Guilty In Rare Federal Acquittal
A federal trial jury Wednesday found a 23-year-old Wind River Indian Reservation man not guilty of multiple sexual abuse charges. His accuser had claimed he raped her while she was drunk. Federal trial acquittals are extremely rare.
Clair McFarlandMarch 28, 2025
Wyoming Man Accused Of Machete, Hammer Attacks Nabbed In Colorado
A 25-year-old Goshen County, Wyoming man was on the run from the law, accused of swinging a machete at his sister. He was caught Wednesday in Colorado — and his sister says he wasn’t really trying to hurt her.
Clair McFarlandMarch 28, 2025
Wyoming Cell Tower Worker Hit While Air Force Members Shoot At Targets
A man working on a Verizon cell tower was shot in the thigh Thursday while three U.S. Air Force members were shooting targets on federal land outside Guernsey, Wyoming. The worker was life-flighted, then treated and released from a Cheyenne hospital.
Clair McFarlandMarch 28, 2025
Trump Bans Northern Arapaho Tribe's Law Firm From Federal Contracts
The White House this week ordered federal agencies to stop working with a law firm that has earned $500,000 lobbying for the Northern Arapaho Tribe. An attorney at the firm worked on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation in 2016.
Clair McFarlandMarch 27, 2025
Douglas Woman Accused Of Threats To Blow Up Man’s Business And Poison His Dog
Douglas police claim a local woman threatened to poison a man's dog and bomb his family business to get him to "comply with her demands." Khyrstyn Jackson now faces up multiple felonies, including blackmail.
Clair McFarlandMarch 27, 2025
Prosecutor Fights To Keep Convicted Child Molester On Sex Offender List
A Sweetwater County prosecutor is challenging a judge’s decision to expunge a Rock Springs man’s 1997 conviction for molesting an 8-year-old girl, court documents show. The man has argued to be removed from the sex offender list.
Clair McFarlandMarch 27, 2025
41-Year-Old Glenrock Woman Who Stalked Teens Didn't Get Jail Time: Here's Why
The families of two Glenrock teens cyberstalked and bullied by 41-year-old Marcie Smith for a year say they understand why she only got probation, but wish jail time had been offered. They hope to change the law to stop similar nightmares for others.
Clair McFarlandMarch 27, 2025
Woman Says She Jumped From Moving Minivan Twice While Boyfried Beat Her
A woman jumped from her boyfriend's minivan twice to escape a brutal beating near Riverton, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports. A man accused of forcing her into the vehicle after a knife standoff with another man was charged Monday.
Clair McFarlandMarch 26, 2025
Shoshoni Woman Caught Impersonating FBI Agent Now Faces Assault Charges
A Shoshoni woman has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault, accused of pointing a shotgun at her sister and another man. She confessed to impersonating an FBI agent at an airport in another case.
Clair McFarlandMarch 26, 2025
Wyoming Attorney General Bridget Hill Among 3 Nominated For State Supreme Court
A judicial nominating commission Monday named Wyoming Attorney General Bridget Hill, private attorney Anna Reeves Olson and Judge Stuart Healy as three candidates for a soon-to-be-vacant state Supreme Court seat.
Clair McFarlandMarch 26, 2025
16-Year-Old Girl Accused Of Shooting Two Men Asks To Be Charged As Child
The attorney for Addisyn Rain Marie Fisher is asking a judge to send the 16-year-old's case to juvenile court. Fisher, from Rock Springs, is charged as an adult in the shooting of two men and has an arraignment hearing Thursday.
Clair McFarlandMarch 25, 2025
Full Semitrailer Smashes Through Shed, House In Upton
A semitrailer full of bentonite smashed through the side of a storage shed and a vehicle, then halfway through a house Monday in Upton. The man living in the house was in bed when the truck “pushed his bedroom out the other wall.”
Clair McFarlandMarch 25, 2025
Carbon County Sheriff's Facebook Page Back After Hackers Used It To Sell Crypto
UPDATE: Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken reported Tuesday afternoon that, after days of working with Meta and Cowboy State Daily, his Facebook page has been restored. A hacker took it over Friday and used it to sell cryptocurrency.
Clair McFarlandMarch 25, 2025
Wyoming Tesla Owners Bristle At Destruction Campaign
Wyoming Tesla owners remain concerned about the attacks on Tesla products and properties happening nationwide. The FBI launched a task force Monday to investigate the crimes officials call “domestic terrorism.”
Clair McFarlandMarch 24, 2025
Freight Containers Topple Off Train North Of Rock River
Several of a Union Pacific train's shipping containers toppled Monday north of Rock River. It's unclear if train car frames derailed with them. The mayor speculated it was because of high winds which reached over 60mph during the morning.
Clair McFarlandMarch 24, 2025
Cody Man Found Hallucinating After Mother's Stabbing Sent To Mental Hospital
The case against a Cody man accused of stabbing his mother after claiming he had been hallucinating and that she had "little people" annoy him is on hold. A circuit court judge agreed that he should be committed to a mental hospital until deemed sane.
Clair McFarlandMarch 24, 2025
Clair McFarland: Don't Harass Your Banjo Player
Clair McFarland writes, "Little-Feisty played ‘Joy to the World.’ Even with that banjo being just a pan, a neck, five strings and some invisible sprites, I could hear it well above the sound of ‘Thunderstruck.’”
Clair McFarlandMarch 24, 2025