No Fireworks in the City for New Year's

El Paso Fire Department Officials would like to wish the Citizens of El Paso a Safe and Happy New Year and would like to remind them that if they are planning to celebrate the New Year by using fireworks to please remember to keep them outside the city limits. The same laws that apply to and are enforced during the July 4th holiday are also in effect for the New Year Holiday and throughout the year.

If anyone is caught in possession of fireworks inside the City of El Paso, their fireworks will be confiscated and they will be issued a class C citation punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.00.

El Paso Fire Officials are asking the public to attend one of the many professional firework displays throughout the city and offer these firework injury facts.

More than 50 percent of firework injuries occur to children and teenagers.
The top three injury-causing fireworks are firecrackers, sparklers, and rockets
Children most often suffer burns, lacerations and eye injuries.
There were 9,200 emergency room-treated injuries associated with fireworks in 2006.

Two Unlicensed Discount Health Care Card Providers Assessed Fines

AUSTIN- Beginning April 1, 2008, all discount health care card providers
wanting to conduct
business in Texas were required to be licensed by the Texas Department of
Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). Currently thirty-four (34) companies meet
state requirements and are legally acting as discount health care providers.


Prime Discount Card, located in Brentwood, Tennessee, advertised a discount
health care
program on their internet web site but did not hold a certificate of
registration to conduct business which is issued by the Texas Department of
Licensing and Regulation. The
advertisement is evidence the company was functioning as a healthcare
program operator,
therefore the company was cited a violation and received an administrative
penalty of $6,000.

National Health Partners, Inc., of Horsham, Pennsylvania, advertised on an
internet web site to provide, for a monthly fee, membership with access to
discounts for Texas healthcare providers who agreed in advance to honor the
CAREexpress membership card and accept discounted fees. National Health
Partners, Inc. did not hold a certificate of registration issued by the
Department. Violation of the law resulted in a $1,500 fine.

TDLR received authority to regulate the discount health care card industry
from the 80th Texas Legislature which created the "Discount Health Care
Programs Act" in 2007. Discount Health Care Cards are NOT health insurance.
They are non-insurance plans that offer consumers access to health care
services at discount rates. Before purchasing the plan consumers are
encouraged to confirm the company is licensed with the Texas Department of
Licensing and
Regulation. To review a list of the companies visit
http://www.license.state.tx.us/LicenseSearch.

Dallas X-treme Fight Night Sponsor Found Guilty of Promoting Without License

AUSTIN -Ben Jackson, a Dallas businessman, was found guilty Wednesday of
promoting combative sport events without the appropriate license. Following
the jury's guilty verdict County Criminal Court
Judge Elizabeth Frizzell sentenced Jackson to 120 days in jail and a $300
fine. Jackson's jail time was suspended and he was placed on probation for
a period of one year.

Unlicensed combative sport events have spread across the state and the Texas
Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) is actively uncovering and
investigating the occurrences. Illegal fights are dangerous for the boxers
and mixed martial art (MMA) fighters participating in the event; they
jeopardize the health and safety of the contestants by pairing fighters of
unequal weights and skill levels resulting in dangerously mismatched bouts.

These illegal events also endanger the fighters safety because no physicians
are on-site, no ambulance with EMS personnel is at the venue and no
evacuation plan has been established should a severe injury occur.

Prior to 2005 elimination tournaments, a/k/a, Toughman contests, were
occurring throughout Texas, and endangering the lives of the participants.
Senator Eddie Lucio Jr., author of the Texas Senate Bill 796, which
outlawed the tournaments, states, "I authored legislation to make certain
that when combative sports take place all necessary safety measures are in
effect, including a registration period, medical staff, and insurance. I
made a promise to the families of those that died or were injured in
"Toughman" competitions that irresponsible
promoters would no longer profit at the expense of Texans being injured or
killed for cheap entertainment."

Licensed promoters are required to conform to the health, safety and
practice requirements in the Combative Sports Law. TDLR's trained staff is
available to assist people wishing to promote combative sports events
in understanding and complying with the Law.