Burning couches now a felony

Fire starters, beware: The city of Morgantown will begin filingfelony charges against people caught setting celebratory street andtrash bin fires, and convictions can carry prison time.Traditionally, the hometown of West Virginia University has reliedon its misdemeanor malicious burning ordinance to handle studentsand others who start hundreds of potentially dangerous bonfires eachyear. Conviction carries a mandatory $1,000 fine. But FireDepartment Capt. Ken Tennant and Police Chief Ed Preston saidWednesday theyre teaming up this year to add the third- and fourth-degree state arson charges to their tool kits. Conviction could meanone to three years in prison, depending …