Anderson Cooper

Photos: Kara Nichols, missing model, marks twentieth birthday as search continues

Late last year, when we first posted about the search for Kara Nichols, she was nineteen. Today, more than eight months after she set out from her Colorado Springs home for Denver, she turns twenty. Her loved ones are marking the date even as they're emphasizing that despite the passage of time, th ... More >>

Some members of Congress are wackier than others

See also: Slide show: The 10 weirdest members of Congress

Harlem Shake: Everything to know about YouTube's viral successor to "Gangnam Style"

This is a turning point in the history of music on the internet. I know, I know, it feels like a regular Friday, but trust me, things will never be the same again. The forces of capitalism, social networking and goofing off have converged at the perfect time to create the magic that is the "Harlem ... More >>

Video: Christopher Dorner, ex-L.A. cop, presumed dead after fiery cabin standoff

Update:Ex-L.A. cop Christopher Dorner has been the subject of a massive manhunt for more than a week after allegedly killing three , including former Denver resident Keith Lawrence; see previous coverage below. Now, the crisis appears at an end, with charred remains found in a gutted California cabi ... More >>

Kara Nichols search: Mom says teen model was involved in drugs, prostitution

Last November, we told you about the search for Kara Nichols, an aspiring teen model from Colorado Springs who'd vanished en route to Denver. At the time, a photo on the website of a Las Vegas escort service was alternately thought to be a false lead or a big break. Now, we know why it was taken ser ... More >>

GABF week kicks off with beers, balls and a message from the Falling Rock's Chris Black

Great American Beer Festival week kicked off, as it has for the past fifteen years, at the Falling Rock Taphouse on Monday, when the clock hit 000 00 00 00.0 But things were a little different this year, says Chris Black, who owns and runs Denver's most famous craft-beer bar. "Some people thought we ... More >>

Aurora theater shooting joke in front of Weston Cowden, victim's son, gets NY prof suspended

In the wake of the Aurora theater shooting, comics like Dane Cook and Jeffrey Ross were ripped for making jokes about the tragedy. Now, a New York professor has been suspended for treading into this same territory due in large part to a member of his audience: Weston Cowden, who was in the theater t ... More >>

Natasha Leggero on Playboy radio and horrifying pop culture

In her standup appearances, Natasha Leggero critiques terrible pop culture while wearing evening gloves and pearls -- but her witty, spot-on commentary takes the gloves off, at least figuratively. The comedian, who's appeared on Chelsea Lately, Burning Love and Free Agents, is bringing her Servantle ... More >>

DIA conspiracy theorists "continually surprise and delight us," says airport spokeswoman

Waylon the wandering cat: What would happen if he and found-cat Willow had babies?

The media (Westword included) loves a good lost-cat-found story. Three months after a Broomfield calico named Willow made national news (and got fondled by Anderson Cooper) when she turned up in New York City, the headlines are shouting about a tabby named Waylon who was found in Golden last week af ... More >>

Kristen Stillman can't sue Colorado, but judge finds a loophole in Chandler Grafner case

Kristen Stillman.​When people hear Kristen Stillman's story -- how her mother left eight-year-old Kristen and her twin brother, Will, at a house where they suffered horrific abuse for a decade, with Kristen giving birth to four children by head of the household/rapist Eric Torrez by the time s ... More >>

The Boy Scouts' Police Problem

Dozens of teenage Explorers have been sexually abused by cops. Should the Scouts share the blame?

Medical marijuana reviewer job celebrates its second anniversary at Westword

​In the fall of 2009, local officials looked around and suddenly discovered that the medical marijuana business was booming in Denver. In fact, it might have been the city's only growth industry at the time. The national media discovered the story, too -- and when Westword advertised for a med ... More >>

Anderson Cooper talks with Kristen and Will Stillman about abuse they suffered in Denver

Anderson Cooper.​Last week, Anderson Cooper interviewed Willow the Cat. On Monday, he featured two more Coloradans on his new show, Anderson -- but the story of Kristen and Will Stillman, which first appeared on the cover of Westword a year ago, isn't nearly as warm and fuzzy.

Willow the cat, newly reunited with her family, set to star in her own book

Willow the cat.​At long last -- and on national television -- Willow the cat was reunited with her family last week. The Today Show clip below finds Willow being lovingly caressed by family matriarch Jamie Squires while Matt Lauer asks predictable questions and she is confronted by Lola, a dau ... More >>

Willow the cat befriends Anderson Cooper, clears up her backstory, kind of (VIDEO)

Willow the cat.​If you thought Willow, the formerly lost Broomfield feline, experienced the adventure of her lives during the five years before she turned up in New York City, think again. Since her rediscovery, the cat has become a true American Internet meme and rubbed elbows with some of it ... More >>

Will Stillman to talk about house of horrors, and how boys are abused, too

The house.​Last September, I told the story of Kristen Stillman. She'd survived incredible horrors while imprisoned in a home in northwest Denver, where her mother had left Kristen and Will, her twin, when they were just eight. Eric Torrez, the head of that household, tortured the twins, rapin ... More >>

Kristen and Will Stillman survived unspeakable horrors, but building a new life could be their toughest challenge

John Ramsey, dad of slain child JonBenét, weds Jan Rousseaux 5 years after wife Patsy's death

Ramsey & Rousseaux.​JonBenét Ramsey was murdered in December 1996 -- yet fifteen years later, there continues to be a fascination with anything connected to the case, from the Boulder house where the killing took place being put up for sale to the lives she left behind. Mom Patsy Ramsey died ... More >>

Anderson Cooper takes on William Tapley's penises at Denver International Airport

​Anyone who has ever been blocked in while trying to drop off a passenger knows there are plenty of dicks at Denver International Airport. And anyone who has followed Westword knows that there are plenty of conspiracy theories about the place as well -- many, many theories. But those aren't th ... More >>

Bug Bedlam! Denver's bedbug infestation one of the worst in the U.S.

Return to Sender

What would comprehensive immigration reform look like if the Feds got off their duffs?

Tonight's MTV Hope for Haiti Telethon has roots here at home with mGive

As you've undoubtedly heard by now, tonight the biggest names in entertainment are coming together for MTV's Hope for Haiti Telethon, a unified relief effort to raise much needed funds for the disaster torn country, devastated by the recent earthquake. The relief effort is wide reaching and beyond m ... More >>

A few words with Top Chef Hosea Rosenberg

Top Chef Hosea Rosenberg is officially a very busy man. We all saw Rosenberg, the chef of Jax in Boulder, come out on top on Top Chef last week, and he's been on the talk-show circuit ever since. I tried to get into the West End Tavern for the final-episode party, but it was jammed. So instead, I de ... More >>

CNN at the DNC: delicious!

David Gregory at the DNC: at last, you're mine

CNN at the DNC: delicious!

David Gregory at the DNC: at last, you're mine

Elitch Gardens: A Celebration with Altitude brings out the attitude

A Good-Bye in Vegas

Canceled

The curtain falls on the latest JonBenét revival.

She's Back

JonBenét brings out the media's worst -- again.

Storytime

The dailies are looking for characters.