Senior Reporter

Austin Murphy

Austin Murphy is a general assignment reporter for The Press Democrat, where his stories have ranged from politics and natural disasters, to a dead cat whodunit, to the retired Sebastopol grandmother who pioneered the use of investigative genetic genealogy to crack cold cases. Before the PD hired him in 2019, Murphy spent 5 eventful months driving a van for Amazon, which followed his 33 years at Sports Illustrated.

On Nov. 7, officers of the California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife apprehended a man suspected of poaching 15 red abalone at Ocean Cove, on the Sonoma Coast. (California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife)

Man arrested on suspicion of poaching 15 abalone on Sonoma Coast

December 8, 2025 at 7:49 a.m.

Officials said the man was arrested after being spotted by officers with a bag of 15 abalone near Salt Point State Park, in violation of the state's now 8-year ban...

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a min-satellite built in part by Sonoma State University students blasts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Screenshot courtesy of Sonoma State University)

‘We are in orbit’: Satellite built by Bay Area college students propelled into outer atmosphere on SpaceX rocket

December 1, 2025 at 7:09 a.m.

The mini-satellite, named 3UCubed, was built over 5 years by students at Sonoma State, Howard and the University of New Hampshire. It will monitor how the solar wind interacts with...

Jerel and Jean Shaffer, of Olympia, WA, enjoy the view of the Sonoma Coast near Jenner on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)

North Coast under renewed threat of offshore oil drilling, leaked documents show

October 31, 2025 at 8:04 a.m.

A recent Houston Chronicle story reveals Trump administration plans to open large swathes of the California coast to offshore drilling.

2025-HMB-Weigh-Off-winner-Brandon-Dawson-of-Santa-Rosa-CA-1_c650f2

Behind Bay Area man’s triumph in Super Bowl of giant pumpkin contests in Half Moon Bay

October 17, 2025 at 10:08 a.m.

Brandon Dawson missed 1st place in 2024 by just six pounds. At the 2025 World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off, no one came close to Beetle Handle, the 2,346-pound giant he'd planted...

Vehicles travel in the newly opened third lane of Highway 101, looking north from San Antonio Road, south of Petaluma on Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)

Milestone reached in Hwy. 101 widening project as 3 lanes open through Marin-Sonoma Narrows

September 30, 2025 at 9:30 a.m.

With the widening of these last two bottlenecks south of Petaluma, the $762 million Highway 101 Marin-Sonoma Narrows project, begun in 2011, is finally finished.

The Ruse bed-and-breakfast in Healdsburg. Photo taken Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2022. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat file)

High-end Healdsburg B&B wants to convert to luxury detox center

September 22, 2025 at 5:59 a.m.

In its latest, proposed incarnation, Ruse Treatment representatives outlined plans for a high-end care destination comparable to some of California's priciest detox retreats.

The body of a Mola tecta, or hoodwinker sunfish, lies on the beach at Doran Regional Park in Sonoma County on Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. It is about 6 feet long. (Austin Murphy/The Press Democrat)

‘Weird and gorgeous’: Massive fish washes up on Bay Area beach

September 10, 2025 at 6:00 a.m.

The hoodwinker sunfish is a species whose existence has only been known since 2017, when it was described by a group of researchers.

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