Wes Naman

UNM researchers are on the forefront of a vaccine that could end cervical cancer

It's the culmination of a lifetime of work for University of New Mexico professor Cosette Wheeler, and it could be the largest development in women's health since the advent of the birth control pill. After studying the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) for two decades, she will likely see a breakthrough vaccine for the virus released to the public this year. The hope is that this vaccine could potentially prevent more than 80 percent of cervical cancer cases.

An update on the minimum wage

Thanks to a new bill by City Council President Martin Heinrich, a possible minimum-wage hike is on the Council's plate—again. Here are the basics:

Drunk driving and mental illness need better solutions

The hearts of our local policymakers must brim over with optimism. I can think of no other possible explanation for why they're falling so gullibly for such goofy silver-bullet solutions for complex social problems, such as Kendra's Law and an ordinance requiring the publication of DWI offender photos in newspapers.

Scott Rickson

Dateline: Australia—A naked man may be a little less of a nature lover after suffering burns to one-fifth of his body while trying to set fire to a spider at a nudist resort in New South Wales. The 56-year-old Sydney man tried to kill what he thought was a funnel web spider by pouring gasoline down the spider's burrow and igniting it with a match, CareFlight rescue copter service told the Sydney Morning Herald. Unfortunately, the fuel exploded, burning the man on his upper leg and buttocks. Resort staff treated the man before paramedics arrived. The man was flown by helicopter to Sydney's Concord Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition with burns to 18 percent of his body. Resort guests told emergency crews it was probably a harmless trapdoor spider and not a deadly funnel web. The man's lack of clothing probably contributed to the extent of his burns, the rescue chopper service said.

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