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
Powell Ranching Family Says Child Slavery And Trafficking Claims 'Impossible’
A Powell family running a ranch for troubled teens is asking a federal court to dismiss a forced-labor lawsuit against it, saying two former teens alleging child labor and human trafficking were making “impossible” claims.
Clair McFarlandJanuary 08, 2024
Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority Argues Trans Women Are Women
The Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority argued before an appeals court Wednesday that transgender women are women in defending an appeal by six members challenging the University of Wyoming chapter for admitting a transgender member.
Clair McFarlandJanuary 06, 2024
Wyoming Game And Fish Asks Court To Dismiss 'Extreme Huntress' Lawsuit
Claiming immunity from being sued federally, Wyoming's Game and Fish and its Board of Outfitters and Professional Guides are asking a federal court to dismiss a reality TV star's lawsuit against them over an illegal search.
Clair McFarlandJanuary 05, 2024
Judge Tosses Wyoming Attorney's Attempt To Keep Trump, Lummis Off Ballot
Judge Misha Westby on Thursday dismissed retired Laramie attorney Tim Newcomb's lawsuit to keep former President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis off the state's election ballots, saying the lawsuit was premature.
Clair McFarlandJanuary 05, 2024
Police Catch Saratoga Woman Accused Of Shooting Up House, Robbing Saloon
Nebraska police captured Victoria Tidball of Saratoga, Wyoming, last week, who was wanted for allegedly shooting up her boyfriend's house and Jeep, and helping a different man rob a saloon. Her suspected accomplice is still at large.
Clair McFarlandJanuary 04, 2024
Man Nabbed In Wyoming High-Speed Chase Had Been Recently Paroled After 1998 Rape
Travis Wood, the 47-year-old Utah man now in a Wyoming jail for leading police on an icy high-speed chase after Thanksgiving, was less than two months out on parole after kidnapping and reportedly raping a woman in 1998.
Clair McFarlandJanuary 04, 2024
Longtime Casper Foster Dad Charged With Sexually Abusing Children
Steven Marler, a Casper man who has been nationally recognized for being a foster father, now faces 26 criminal charges that include alleged sexual abuse of some of those children.
Dale Killingbeck & Clair McFarlandJanuary 04, 2024
Cheyenne Man Accused Of Running Over Ex-Girlfriend’s Head Blames Rumors
A Cheyenne man accused of running over his ex-girlfriend's head last month reportedly told police she spread bad rumors about him, and that he "blacked out."
Clair McFarlandJanuary 03, 2024
No Arrests Yet In Fatal Tuesday Stabbing On Reservation
One man died Wednesday morning following a reported Tuesday stabbing on the Wind River Indian Reservation. A police call log says the victim's sister's boyfriend stabbed him, but the FBI hasn't arrested anyone yet.
Clair McFarlandJanuary 03, 2024
Feds Taking, Offering Up Guns From Felon In Rock Springs Restaurant Shooting
The federal government is taking two handguns from a felon who had them illegally while he reportedly shot up a Rock Springs restaurant in September. Anyone with a valid claim can ask for a court hearing to get the guns within 30 days of the feds' final announcement.
Clair McFarlandJanuary 03, 2024
Pistol Brace Lawsuit Forges On As Wyoming And 24 Other States Sue Over Federal Rule
A federal appeals court joined a lower court Tuesday in declining to pause an ATF rule against pistol braces while reviewing Wyoming and 24 other states' lawsuit against a federal rule classifying braced pistols as illegal short-barreled rifles.
Clair McFarlandJanuary 02, 2024
Clark Man Settles Lawsuit Over Fire That Killed His Wife
Jerry Ruth has settled his lawsuit against the power co-op and tree-trimming company he accused of causing the deadly 2021 fire in Clark, Wyoming, that killed his wife. Now he's "just trying to put my life back together."
Clair McFarlandJanuary 02, 2024
Cheyenne Hospital Says It Can’t Be Sued For Not Treating Crash Victim Over Mask Policy
In response to a Colorado man's lawsuit claiming he was refused emergency medical care because he wouldn’t put on a face mask, Cheyenne Regional Medical Center says it has governmental immunity.
Clair McFarlandDecember 30, 2023
Clair McFarland: If Home Is A Kingdom, The Blanket Fort's The Rebel Base
Clair McFarland writes: "Whatever legislative session or trial those boys were having in the blanket fort was none of my business. I would just have to trust that justice would prevail. But justice did not prevail, because Middleborn was the commander."
Clair McFarlandDecember 30, 2023
Wyomingites Who Lost Homes When Feds Let Roosevelt Fire Burn Watch Supreme Court
Dozens of Wyoming residents suing the federal government for letting the 2018 Roosevelt Fire burn — and consume their homes and property — are watching to see if the U.S. Supreme Court will take on a similar case about the same fire.
Clair McFarlandDecember 29, 2023
Missing Woman In Laramie High-Speed Chase Says She Wasn't Trafficked, Just 'In Love'
A woman who was in a national missing-persons database was not being trafficked at a Laramie truck stop as first suspected. She told police she was just "in love." She and her lover, however, remain in jail on a variety of felony and misdemeanor charges.
Clair McFarlandDecember 29, 2023
Never-Trump Lawyer Tells Chuck Gray To Resign; Gray Calls Him 'Madman'
A retired Laramie attorney’s lawsuit to get Trump off Wyoming’s ballot has turned fiery, as he is now calling for Secretary of State Chuck Gray to resign, and Gray has responded by calling him a “madman.”
Clair McFarlandDecember 29, 2023
Wyoming Supreme Court: Police Justified In Busting Man With Cocaine In Underwear
The Wyoming Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Cheyenne police lawfully entered a man’s home last year and ultimately arrested him with cocaine in his underwear though it was his girlfriend, not him, who gave them permission to enter.
Clair McFarlandDecember 28, 2023
Man Suspected Of Trafficking Woman At Laramie Truck Stop Charged In Icy Car Chase
Laramie police officers asked one too many questions for a Salt Lake City man who was with a missing woman 26 years younger than he, so the man allegedly took off in a Wyoming snowstorm last month. But police caught him, and his charged were elevated to felonies Tuesday.
Clair McFarlandDecember 28, 2023
Kemmerer Babysitter Reportedly Said She ‘Hated’ 5-Year-Old She’s Accused Of Killing
A judge ruled last week that prosecutors can use statements at trial in which a Kemmerer babysitter allegedly told a woman she was “sick of,” “hated” and “just wanted to kill” the 5-year-old girl she’s accused of beating to death.
Clair McFarlandDecember 27, 2023
Texas AG Releases Murder Suspect's Traffic Ticket From When Cody Woman Vanished
Texas authorities on Wednesday offered a glimpse into the days or hours after a Cody woman went missing, by releasing an Oct. 9 wrong-way driving traffic ticket issued to her boyfriend, Adam Aviles Jr. Aviles is in a federal jail awaiting trial.
Clair McFarlandDecember 27, 2023