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
Park County Sheriff's Lieutenant Justified In Killing Man During Fight For Shotgun
An independent prosecutor declared Park County Sheriff's Lt. Mark Hartman justified Wednesday for shooting a Park County man last August after the pair wrestled over a shotgun on a canal road.
Clair McFarlandJune 07, 2023
Cheyenne Man Who Accidentally Killed Teen Has Bond Revoked, On House Arrest Ahead Of Sentencing
Tirso Munguia, who was 19 when arrested in January in the death of 16-year-old Angelina Harrison, got out of jail on bond this month, went back to jail, and now is back out on house arrest after a heated encounter with the victim's parents.
Clair McFarlandJune 07, 2023
Cheyenne Parents Fight Over Sex Books In Schools
Cheyenne parents and residents clashed at the Laramie County School District No. 1 board meeting Monday over how to address numerous sexually-charged books in district schools.
Clair McFarlandJune 06, 2023
Riverton Man Who Stalked, Snuck Through Ex's Doggie Door To Stay In Prison
David Hembree's conviction of stalking his girlfriend and sneaking through her dog door stands, though he claimed on appeal that the prosecutor slighted him for his choice to remain silent at trial.
Clair McFarlandJune 06, 2023
Riverton Man Who Mercy-Killed Best Friend Gets Probation As Prosecutor Has Change Of Heart
Mario Mills gets a second chance after a judge sentenced him to probation for mercy-killing best friend Trevor Bartlett in 2020. Bartlett's insistent mother said all along that Mills is like another son to her and he didn't act maliciously.
Clair McFarlandJune 06, 2023
Woman Narrowly Escapes Man Trying To Kidnap Her From Gillette Walmart
A woman in Gillette was able to escape a kidnapper because she had her key fob programmed to only open the driver’s side door, she told police. She was able to get in her car and speed away.
Clair McFarlandJune 05, 2023
California Trio Charged With Robbing Casper Pharmacy; One Had Never Heard Of Wyoming Before
Court documents say three men from California drove to Casper after watching a how-to-rob-a-store video on Instagram and then stole thousands of opioid pills from a Casper Walgreens. One of the men said he picked Wyoming because he always wanted to visit the state. Another said he had never heard of Wyoming before.
Clair McFarlandJune 04, 2023
Cheyenne Man Harasses Target Employees, Compares Them To Nazis
A Cheyenne man repeatedly harassed Target employees and compared them to Nazis because they wouldn't agree with his opinion about the appropriateness of an LGBTQ "Pride" display in the store.
Clair McFarlandJune 02, 2023
Girlfriend Of Man Who Killed And Chopped Up Romantic Rival In Laramie Motel Gets A Year In Jail
Erin Brittany Wade was sentenced to one year in jail for interfering with a police investigation into her boyfriend's killing and mutilation of a man who kissed Wade at a bar in Laramie.
Clair McFarlandJune 02, 2023
Teton County Judge Rules Wyoming Right To Life, Other Pro-Lifers Can't Join Abortion Lawsuit
Teton County District Court Judge Melissa Owens ruled Friday that Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray, Wyoming Right To Life and Republican state Reps. Chip Neiman and Rachel Rodriguez-Williams can’t join a lawsuit defending Wyoming’s abortion bans.
Clair McFarlandJune 02, 2023
Reservation Man Charged With Hurling Screwdriver At Child, Tormenting Another
Federal authorities on Thursday charged Denver Lee John Sr. with two counts of child abuse for allegedly hurling a screwdriver at a child and mentally abusing another child to the point of hurting that child's ability to function.
Clair McFarlandJune 02, 2023
Explicit Book in Lander High School Has Sparked Uproar — Here’s What's In It
A graphic book in the Lander Valley High School that teaches two genders is obsolete, and gives illustrated instructions on anal sex, and how to text nude photos, has sparked a school-board policy discussion slated for June 20.
Clair McFarlandJune 02, 2023
Multiple Volunteers Want To Adopt Toddlers Abandoned By Parents In Gillette
Since Cowboy State Daily published a story about two Louisiana parents rejecting their 1- and 2-year-old boys in Gillette on Monday, multiple people have asked about how they can adopt the toddlers.
Clair McFarlandJune 01, 2023
Elderly Client Crashes Through Front Wall Of Riverton Medical Clinic
No one has reported being hurt Thursday morning when an elderly woman drove a vehicle through the front waiting area of a medical clinic on the west side of Riverton.
Clair McFarlandJune 01, 2023
Clair McFarland: Real Girls Are Made Of Go-Carts And Antelope Skulls
Clair McFarland writes: "This little girl is even tougher than my boys. She climbs onto the trampoline with them, drops to all fours, snatches their ankles and topples them like dominoes. They dogpile her, roughing her hair into a unicorn horn above her ponytail."
Clair McFarlandJune 01, 2023
Parents Claiming Rock Springs School Was Transitioning Child Behind Their Backs Say Others Have Told Them It’s Happened Before
In a Zoom interview with Cowboy State Daily, Sean and Ashley Willey say since they sued the Rock Springs school system over allegedly gender transitioning their teen behind their backs, other Rock Springs families have said that’s happened to them as well.
Clair McFarlandMay 31, 2023
Gillette Authorities Take Toddler Boys, Ages 1 And 2, After Both Parents Say They Don’t Want Them
Gillette authorities took possession of two toddler boys ages 1 and 2 Monday after the boys' mother drove to Wyoming from Louisiana to give them to their father, who also didn't want them, police say.
Clair McFarlandMay 31, 2023
Thermopolis Man Who Sabotaged Trial Of Accused Meth Dealer Faces New Charges
A convicted meth dealer from Thermopolis who sabotaged another alleged meth dealer's trial by refusing to testify at the last possible moment now faces a new federal charge of dealing fentanyl in Cheyenne.
Clair McFarlandMay 30, 2023
Fremont County Man Accused Of Strangling Fiancee When Served Leftovers Pleads Not Guilty
An Atlantic City, Wyoming man accused of strangling and beating his girlfriend after she warmed up leftovers instead of letting him cook elk steak last month pleaded not guilty Tuesday and asked the judge to let him see his young daughters.
Clair McFarlandMay 30, 2023
Man Who Killed, Tried To Chop Up Laramie Romantic Rival Gets Up To 30 Years In Prison
Siblings of Mathew Caggiano, the man who was murdered and partially dismembered in a Laramie motel room last year, wept and held each other as they asked Albany County Judge Misha Westby on Tuesday to give Hunter Fulton the maximum sentence. That’s just what he got, between 26 and 30 years in prison.
Clair McFarlandMay 30, 2023
Boysen Tornado Topples And Flattens Campers, Marina Says
The Boysen Marina management announced late Friday that a tornado crashed across the lake that afternoon, downing power lines, toppling and flattening campers, but only causing minor injuries.
Clair McFarlandMay 27, 2023