Free Republic

Sofas in yards and on open porches would be outlawed under a proposal designed to relieve Minneapolis neighborhoods of tackiness. "Our city can either look good or it can look tacky, and tacky is not what we want," said City Council President Barbara Johnson before the council's regulatory committee approved the measure banning upholstered furniture and mattresses outdoors. Council Member Cam Gordon, who represents some University of Minnesota neighborhoods, unsuccessfully argued for exempting open porches from the ban. He said people relaxing on porches create a good atmosphere that puts more eyes on the street. Existing nuisance controls could be...

Storm Victims Leave Hotels for Sofas, Cars Monday February 13, 2006 10:16 PM By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI Associated Press Writers NEW ORLEANS (AP) - About 12,000 families made homeless by last year's hurricanes began checking out of their federally funded hotel rooms around the country Monday after a federal judge let FEMA stop paying directly for their stays. The Federal Emergency Management Agency promised the evacuees from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita that they will still receive federal rent assistance that they can put toward hotel stays or other housing. But the agency will no longer pay for their hotel rooms directly....

<p>HIGH POINT, N.C. – Furniture makers are hoping that NASCAR fans, with their passion for car numbers and sponsor logos, will transfer some of that brand loyalty to their living rooms.</p> <p>For $2,295, you can buy a black leather Jeff Gordon sofa, emblazoned with a big No. 24 - and shooting flames. That's from a High Point company called, appropriately, Racing Furniture, which offers a variety of NASCAR-inspired sofas and chairs.</p>