Farnn

May 17th, 2016 at 1:43 PM ^

Damn, was hoping Graham Couch was fired and the headline had a typo.  Well at least this may lead to more mockery of MSU when they burn everything after a Michigan loss.

Muttley

May 18th, 2016 at 12:12 AM ^

Corrected version:

East Lansing police Lt. Scott Wiggelsworth said police have used it "quite a bit" in the past few years

Other eloquent commentary by local officials included

East Lansing City Manager George Lahanas said today that the ordinance is "very important" to the city

DrewGOBLUE

May 17th, 2016 at 1:46 PM ^

Their constant need for new couches has me considering the idea of opening a furniture store in EL. Think I'll call it "Sparty's Sofa Kingdom."

LSAClassOf2000

May 17th, 2016 at 1:50 PM ^

The ruling in 54B District Court came after two women were charged with violating the ordinance in October after police determined they remained within 300 feet of a mattress fire.

You know, that sentence by itself has this Ohio / Florida vibe to it when it comes to apparent weirdness, and yet it happened about an hour from where I sit. At least the two people involved were not seen to have encouraged people to further desecrate the mattress, if nothing else. Small victories for bedroom furnishings, right?

Cali Wolverine

May 17th, 2016 at 2:15 PM ^

East Lansing and couch fires. As sure as the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, there are just some things that will always be associated with one another to the end of time.

Space Coyote

May 17th, 2016 at 2:44 PM ^

The fire retardants make it more difficult to catch fire, but I believe there are several law suits from firemen about being exposed to some of these chemicals when they actually do burn. Turns out some of them are carcinogenic. We seem to have a lot of laws that are supposed to protect dumb people from being dumb. Not necessarily how this is any different than those other than the requirement to call emergency services.

UM Fan from Sydney

May 17th, 2016 at 2:45 PM ^

They have already accepted the fact that Michigan will beat them in their house this year.

UMProud

May 17th, 2016 at 4:42 PM ^

This stimulates the EL economy...
Art Van doesn't even have once in a lifetime sales every weekend here due to sofa fires bringing in customers

FauxMo

May 17th, 2016 at 5:25 PM ^

This ordinance was dead on arrival. Recall the immortal words of Thomas Jefferson: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, the pursuit of Happiness, and the Burning of luxurious couches following a win or loss in a spirited athletic contest..."

Bluebells and maize

May 17th, 2016 at 6:10 PM ^

I understand that citizens of EL have a Constitutional right to burn couches, but is it asking too much to require a brief waiting period and background check before buying a new piece of furniture?  As a responsible furniture owner, I'm very worried that a small minority of those who don't practice furniture safety may jeopardize my rights to sit/sleep/dine with the freedom I've come to expect.