Spectrum Bay News 9’s Bill Murphy is retiring for a second time. This time he says it’s for good.

For more than a decade, Bill has presented “Everyday Hero” stories each Monday.

His last Everyday Hero story was about Anita Camacho with the Tampa Bay Butterfly Foundation. As he talked to Anita and toured the facility, Bill showed his usual curiosity as he looked at a butterfly caterpillar.

“It’s not an act,” he said. “I really get into it. I’m fascinated by the caterpillar.”

Murphy has been in the news businesses since he started part-time at a radio station in California. He has a memento from that job on the wall of his apartment: His very first paycheck.

“And as you can see it was dated 1973 and this is 2023. If my math is correct that’s 50 years I have been able to make a living in broadcasting. I’m proud of that," Murphy said.

Over the course of his career, Murphy has worked at a number of TV stations. He hosted a daily talk show at Channel 10 in Tampa and was a morning anchor at Fox 13 in Tampa when he retired for the first time in 2008.

The mayor proclaimed “Bill Murphy Day” Jan. 4^th, 2008. He has the framed proclamation on a wall.

“Pam Iorio, the then mayor of Tampa, was kind enough to present this to me,” he said. “I did ask her if that meant I didn’t have to worry about my parking tickets, but not, ha, ha.”

Murphy also wrote several books about places to visit in Florida called One Tank Trips. “It’s just great if you have kids or if you have people coming from out of town.”

Bill said what he would miss most about reporting news was the many hours spent driving around with photographers.

“People don’t know that the photographer reporter relationship, especially if you work with the same person. It’s like they become a rabbi, a priest, a marriage counselor. You talk about things.”

Murphy said he plans to spend his extra time traveling and visiting with his daughter.