Texas Electric Companies have been deregulated since 2007.   I am constantly surprised how many people have had TXU as an electric provider in North Texas without comparing prices.  Although electric companies brag that they are looking out for their customers, my experience has been the opposite.  I had a 12 month plan with Reliant at a low rate, but when the contract ran out they decided to automatically switch me to a month-to-month plan.   I was paying .18¢ per kWh without knowing it, trusting that Reliant would have notified me.  By the time, I noticed I had been paying the higher price for four months.  That's when I started searching for lower electric rates.   I found companies like http://www.fortworthelectriccompany.com and http://www.arlingtonelectriccompany.com which provided me with an easy tool for comparing various electric rates at once.    I suggest you visit sites as the once I've mentioned and start saving significant money each and every month.

Weather permitting, The Texas Department of Transportation will close all eastbound SH 114 mainlanes, and one lane westbound, between Tom Braniff to just east of the Loop 12 overpass between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday. Should weather delay the construction scheduled, the highway closure may occur Sunday at those times instead. 

These closures are necessary to install underpass lighting on the Loop 12 bridges over SH 114. 

These closures are necessary to ensure the safety of the traveling public and workers during these construction operations. Police officers will be located at the SH 114/Loop 12 frontage road intersection to direct traffic during the closures. Portable message boards were placed in advance to inform the traveling public of the closure. 

This is part of the $224 million project to reconstruct the Loop 12/SH 114 interchange. The project began in February 2009 and is expected to be complete in March 2013. 

For additional transportation related information please visit the TxDOT Web site www.txdot.gov

More than 18 million Americans are significantly impaired by the consequences of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) – it is more prevalent than diabetes and asthma. Patients with OSA often stop breathing during the night while they sleep, often for 30 seconds or longer. This condition can cause daytime sleepiness, depression and weight gain. This causes more problems for patients including an increase in industrial accidents and a diminished quality of life. Furthermore, people with sleep apnea are at higher risk of developing hypertension, heart disease and stroke. All these factors highlight a growing need for new treatment options for patients suffering from OSA.

Current treatment options for OSA today include today’s current standard of care, CPAP, or Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, and surgical treatments. CPAP requires patients to wear a ventilation mask when they sleep. While it can be very effective, several studies have demonstrated roughly half of all patients that start on CPAP eventually become non-compliant and don’t wear the mask regularly. While surgery can also be effective, most surgical options involve removing tissue and/or permanently altering patient anatomy which can cause post-operative pain and long recovery times.

SleepMedicine Associates of Texas, specializing in caring for patients with sleep disorders, has been selected to be part of an exciting new clinical trial.  This investigational, minimally invasive implantable therapy uses neurostimulation to offer patients a way to permanently address OSA without altering the anatomy. Called Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation (UAS) therapy, it works with the body’s physiology to prevent airway obstruction during sleep. 

Here’s how it works: Many people suffering from OSA experience decreased muscle tone in their airway during sleep. When this occurs, the tongue and other soft tissues can relax, obstruct the airway, and cause apnea events. Inspire therapy is designed to deliver mild stimulation to the hypoglossal nerve on each breathing cycle while the OSA patient sleeps. This stimulation helps to stabilize the airway during sleep. Patients control when the therapy is turned on and off via a handheld programmer. While Inspire therapy does require a surgical procedure, in contrast to other surgical options to treat sleep apnea, Inspire therapy does not require removing or permanently altering an OSA patient’s facial or airway anatomy. As such, the procedure is less invasive and may result in a shorter recovery time.

Sleep Medicine Associates is currently looking for patients who have sleep apnea to participate in the trial. To be eligible for screening and inclusion in the STAR trial, patients must:

• Have been unable to receive consistent benefit from CPAP therapy
• Have moderate to severe sleep apnea
• Have a body mass index of less than 32

Patients living with the effects of OSA who are interested in Inspire therapy may visit www.TheStarTrial.com or call1-888-846-8352.

About the Author
Dr. Jamieson is Chairman of the Board and founding partner of Sleep Medicine Associates of Texas. Since 1988, he has been the Clinical Director for The Sleep Medicine Institute at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas and is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

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Browse Irving Apartment listings.

Here at Irving Weekly we have made it easy for anyone that is looking to rent an apartment in Irving, TX to find just that. We know the hassle of going around apartment searching. But we also know the importance of just not settling for any apartment. The dirty work has to be done in order to find that apartment that will make us happy.

Driving around looking for apartments in Irving and Las Colinas area can be time consuming, waste of gas, and just tiring. Wouldn't it be better if you coud just browse Irving/ Las Colinas apartments listings from the comfort of your own home and read all about it with reviews and business description?

We have created a brand new section where you can browse through apartment listings in Irving. Our directory is made to make it easier for the  residents of Irving to find that dream apartment there are looking for. Or also if you are planning to move to the Irving/ Las Colinas area, browse through our apartment listings to help you find that perfect fit for you.

If you are the manager of any apartment complex in Irving, do yourself a favor and help potential new clients find you by adding your listing to our business directory. We are quickly growing and becoming one of the centralized places to help potential new clients find what they are looking for. So add your business to our directory today to gain more exposure through our news website.

We are excited about this year and about what we can provide to the Irving community. We are striving to bring you more news and more public information for the community to benefit from.

That's why we have launched a redesign of our website. Give us your opinion on the look and feel of the website.

We are currently working on a lot more projects to add to the website. Stay tune as this year we will be rolling out new sections to the site.

The City Council has scheduled its meetings for 2011. All meetings begin at 7 p.m.

Following are the dates when the council plans to meet:

Residents can attend the meetings at City Hall, 825 W. Irving Blvd., or view them live on Irving Community Television Network (ICTN Channel 95 – Time Warner or ICTN Channel 31 – Verizon). Webcasts are at www.cityofirving.org or www.ictn.tv.

Website visitors can view recorded meetings 24/7 via video on demand. Viewers can select a specific agenda item of interest without having to watch or fast-forward through the entire video.

Work session meetings begin at 11 a.m. the Wednesday prior to the Thursday council meetings. They also are open for public attendance and air live on ICTN and the city website. The meetings also are available via video on demand.

Meeting times are subject to change. Call the City Secretary’s Office at (972) 721-2493 to confirm a meeting date or visit www.cityofirving.org.

The City of Irving’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. observance will be held at 7 p.m. Jan. 17 in Carpenter Hall at the Irving Arts Center, 3333 N. MacArthur Blvd. The theme for this year’s celebration is A Message of Hope. The free event will feature a tribute to youth and a performance by the Dallas Black Dance Theatre. Admission is free. For more information, call (972) 721-2501.

All westbound main lanes of State Highway 114 will be closed at Loop 12 weekend, from 9 p.m. Friday till 9 a.m. Sunday.

Traffic will be directed to exit SH 114 onto the frontage road just before Loop 12.

Crews will install beams for the Loop 12 overpass while the highway is closed.

The completion of the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas is soon approaching. Residents are encouraged to e-mail questions about the convention center to ictn@cityofirving.org by 5 p.m. Oct. 29. Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Maura Gast, and others, will respond to resident inquiries on “Open Line,” which will air at 7 p.m. Nov. 3 on ICTN 1 (Time Warner 16, Verizon 30, www.ictn.tv).