If a tree fell in Chester County, and Mike Rellahan was not there to report it, would it make a sound? Michael P. Rellahan, a reporter for the Daily Local News for 43 years, died recently. It is the end of an era, and he will be missed greatly.

The Daily Local News has covered Chester County since 1872. Humorist Dave Barry used to work there. Like many local newspapers, it downsized, selling the building it was housed in. Mike became one of its last reporters standing. He was at times a columnist, but I knew him mainly from his courthouse beat. Early in my stint as a prosecutor, Mike noted, in a column, my resemblance to Columbo, a label that unfortunately stuck. Despite that, we became friends.

Mike covered criminal trials differently. He searched for hidden truths and the humanity of v

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