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
Cody Woman Convicted Of Killing Toddler Wants Another Trial
A woman convicted in April of murdering her boyfriend’s toddler daughter is asking the judge who oversaw her jury trial to acquit her for lack of evidence and give her a new trial.
Clair McFarlandAugust 11, 2023
Clair McFarland: I Can't Watch The Barbie Movie (Not After What I Did To Her)
Clair McFarland writes, “My boisterous cousin Michael materialized out of nowhere and showed us how to pop off Barbie’s head and stick a firecracker into her neck. We lit the doll, threw her in the air and ran backwards."
Clair McFarlandAugust 11, 2023
Biden Lawyers Deny Coercion In Mafia-Like Demands To Censor Social Media
Lawyers for the Biden administration argued Thursday that government officials weren’t trying to coerce social media platforms, but a federal judge compared the messaging to menacing mafia overtones.
Clair McFarlandAugust 10, 2023
Wyoming Teacher Charged In Connection With Fifth Grader's Suicide Pleads Not Guilty
A Cheyenne teacher accused of leaving an 11-year-old boy unattended at school and contributing to his suicide pleaded not guilty to a charge of child endangerment.
Clair McFarlandAugust 10, 2023
Wyoming Student Arrested For Not Wearing Mask Sues, Says Free Speech Violated
Grace Smith, the Laramie High School student who was arrested in 2021 for refusing to wear a mask at school, is suing the Albany County School District, claiming her First Amendment right, and others, were violated.
Clair McFarlandAugust 10, 2023
Tightrope Walker Gave Pot To Kids In Riverton City Park, Witnesses Say
A Thayne, Wyoming man is accused of luring young kids at Riverton City Park on Monday by showing them how to use a tightrope and then gave them marijuana.
Clair McFarlandAugust 09, 2023
Wyoming Corrections Hasn’t Paid For Prisoner Sex Changes, But Will Give Hormones
The Wyoming Department of Corrections told Cowboy State Daily it hasn’t paid for any gender-reassignment surgeries for transgender inmates, but has provided hormones.
Clair McFarlandAugust 09, 2023
Rock Springs Man Charged With First-Degree Murder In Stabbing Of Girlfriend's Ex
The Sweetwater County Attorney’s Office on Tuesday announced a first-degree murder charge for a Rock Springs man who turned himself in after allegedly stabbing his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend.
Clair McFarlandAugust 08, 2023
UW Leaders Fire Back, Say Banned Church Elder Isn’t A First Amendment Hero
University of Wyoming leaders say a Laramie Church elder’s "harassment" of a transgender student voids claims that his rights were violated by a yearlong ban from Student Union.
Clair McFarlandAugust 08, 2023
Pro-Lifers Ask Wyoming Supreme Court To Let Them Into Abortion Suit
A pair of Wyoming lawmakers who were denied their requests to intervene in a lawsuit challenging Wyoming’s abortion bans have appealed to the state Supreme Court.
Clair McFarlandAugust 07, 2023
Investigation Found Claims Of Discrimination, Hostility Against Crespo Unfounded
An independent investigator couldn't substantiate claims of discrimination and hostility leveled against Laramie County School District No. 1 former Superintendent Dr. Margaret Crespo, who resigned Friday.
Clair McFarlandAugust 07, 2023
Casper Man Accused Of Stabbing In-Laws Wants Second Opinion On Insanity Finding
A Casper man accused of stabbing his father-in-law to death in January, then beating and stabbing his mother-in-law nearly to death is asking for a second opinion about whether he was insane at the time of the crime.
Clair McFarlandAugust 07, 2023
Colorado Man Sues Cheyenne Hospital, Says ER Turned Him Away For Not Wearing Mask
A Colorado man is suing Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, saying the ER staff turned him away after a life-threatening car accident because he wouldn't wear a mask. He said he was having a hard time breathing but they tossed him out anyway.
Clair McFarlandAugust 07, 2023
Johnson County Trooper Nabs Mexican Immigrant Deported 11 Times
A Mexican immigrant caught speeding in Johnson County faces up to two years in federal prison if convicted of reentering the United States illegally after the government deported him 11 times in nine years.
Clair McFarlandAugust 07, 2023
Man Who Won Wyoming Hunting Rights Case Gets 10 Years For Child Porn
A Billings man known for his Supreme Court tribal hunting rights victory over Wyoming will spend at least the next 10 years in prison for possessing 850 images of “child explicit material.”
Clair McFarlandAugust 04, 2023
Man Accused Of Torturing Wife After She Helped Get Him Out Of Assault Charge
A Glendo, Wyoming, man whose wife helped him dodge an aggravated assault conviction last year now faces numerous violent criminal charges for allegedly torturing and terrorizing her throughout two years of their marriage.
Clair McFarlandAugust 04, 2023
After Freedom Caucus Erupts, Wyoming DOC Clarifies On Transgender Inmates
After the Freedom Caucus blasted the Wyoming Department of Corrections over its policy letting a committee place transgender inmates, the state prisons system clarified its statement and said male inmates aren't in contact with female inmates.
Clair McFarlandAugust 03, 2023
Judge Won't Let Wapiti Residents Join Lawsuit To Kill Cellphone Tower
A group of Wapiti residents who don’t want a proposed 195-foot cellphone tower in their neighborhood can’t have a say in a lawsuit the company has filed against Park County to move the project forward.
Clair McFarlandAugust 03, 2023
‘You Are All Gonna Die’, Cheyenne Man Charged For Threats To Dental Clinic
A 40-year-old Cheyenne man faces up to three years in prison on suspicion of making terroristic threats when a local dental clinic charged him a $35 missed appointment fee, including posting “you are all gonna die” to the clinic’s Facebook page.
Clair McFarlandAugust 03, 2023
Gillette Inmate Hurls Poop At Jailer, Says He Wants To Get Sent Back To Prison
A 38-year-old Campbell County jail inmate faces a felony assault charge for hurling his poop and urine onto a detention officer, and said he’d keep doing it until he’s sent back to prison, court documents say.
Clair McFarlandAugust 03, 2023
Triple Murderer Who Killed Ex-Wife, Two Sons During 'Hunting' Trip To Stay In Prison
Gerald Uden, who killed his ex-wife and two adopted sons in 1980 when he convinced them to go bird hunting, says that his 2013 confession to the three murders was coerced, a claim the Wyoming Supreme Court has rejected for the second time.
Clair McFarlandAugust 02, 2023