WXYZ-TV has refused to renew the contract of Bill Spencer, the award-winning consumer reporter, who ran the station’s “Call for Action” team for 15 years.
Channel 7 employees say Spencer’s last day was Wednesday. His bio on the station web site has been removed.
Spencer could not be reached.
Ed Fernandez, WXYZ's vice-president and general manager, confirmed Spencer is not longer with station, but declined to say more about the departure.
“Call for Action,” which receives some 7,000 requests for help a year, will continue, Fernandez said.
"It's a very valuable asset for us as an organization," he said.
In March, Spencer received a first-place award in the Associated Press Broadcasters Association competition for best individual reporting, one of numerous honors he has accumulated in his career.
In recent weeks, Spencer helped a sobbing Dearborn widow retain her tiny home; came to the aid of a mother in Ypsilanti – who is unable to work because of a brain jury – restore electricity in her home and raised $13,000 for the Westside Cubs youth football team in Detroit to travel to their national championship.