How can this be? Our family loved the rooster and his family! They gave Blue Ridge character.

The ones by the post office? Say it isn't so. They were probably some of Mayor Green's that got out some years ago; he's cleaned up a lot of his coops. That's a bummer. I saw them pecking around downtown with their baby chicks several months ago.

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Check out The News Observer online on the home page at the bottom right. Apparently this story is also in the print edition. The mayor ordered city workers to catch and remove the rooster and family after receiving complaints from several downtown businesses. Blue Ridge needs character to keep people coming back and the town fowl are a part of the uniquenss that is Blue Ridge.

Given the mayor's history with roosters, they should hold him down and let the rooster family peck at him.