Help for heroes

Noyau Wellness Center rings in the holidays with free counseling services formilitary families

It's no secret that the holiday season brings as much joy and glad tidings as it does stress and anxiety. When the idealized version of the holidays comes face to face with domestic spats, financial woes and the like, it's a situation that's hard to process.

Happily, Noyau Wellness Center is here to help.

"We do tend to see an increase in clients during the holidays," says senior therapist and Noyau co-founder Angela Taylor. "There's so much pressure involved with family, obligations and expectations [that] a lot of people have a hard time navigating it all."

This is amplified for members of the military, police officers and firefighters, who face uncertainty every day on the job.

That's why the center offers free counseling for first responders and their families dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. There is no time limit on the Heroes Left Behind program.

"We want to do everything we can to help these heroes heal, no matter how long that takes," Taylor says.

E-Cigarette News

Dallas City Council places restrictions on vaping in public

Man vaping, e-cigarette

Unsplash

Man vaping

Vaping will now be banned exactly like smoking, thanks to a new ordinance from the Dallas City Council.

At their December 11 meeting, the council passed an ordinance to ban vaping in all the same areas where smoking is not allowed. It'll go into effect on December 11, 2025 — giving everyone a year to get into compliance.

Proposed by City of Dallas Environmental Commission (EVC) and the Office of Environmental Quality and Sustainability (OEQS), the ordinance amends the definition of “smoking” in the Dallas City Code to include the use of vaping devices.

The ordinance does not ban vaping — it only bans where you can vape: no vaping in all indoor and enclosed spaces; within 15 feet of building entrances; and on park property. The ordinance also bans marijuana smoking in those same places.

In addition, the amendment requires restaurants, hotels, fitness centers and other businesses to update their signage to clearly state that both smoking and electronic smoking devices are prohibited.

The ordinance already earned widespread support from health organizations such as the Dallas County Health and Human Services, the American Lung Association, and the American Heart Association. These organizations, along with the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Surgeon General, have all raised concerns about the health risks of direct and second-hand exposure to vaping aerosols, particularly for vulnerable populations such as children and older adults.

Dallas is not the first city to impose such a ban: San Antonio enacted a similar ban in October. Theirs goes into effect on January 1, 2025.

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