Pat Duggins
News DirectorPat Duggins is APR’s news director. As a kid, he watched the Apollo manned moon launches along Florida’s space coast. Pat later spent 14 years covering NASA for NPR. After re-organizing the APR newsroom, he and the team were honored with over 150 awards for excellence in journalism. That includes APR being the first radio newsroom to receive RFK Human Rights’ “Seigenthaler Prize for Courage in Journalism.” Pat holds a master’s degree from the University of Alabama and has published two books on NASA. When he’s not at APR, he enjoys cooking with Lucia, and tending his beloved fig tree.
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Hundreds of flights set for Friday are already being cut at major U.S. airports as part of the Federal Aviation Administration's effort to phase in 10% reductions because of the government shutdown. The Federal Aviation Administration is imposing the reductions to take pressure off air traffic controllers, who are federal employees and have been working without pay during the shutdown. Birmingham/Shuttlesworth International Airport isn’t on the list for cutbacks, but Atlanta is and that could mean problems. -
Residents of Birmingham turned on their radios in the year 2001, and there was Roy Wood Jr. The future stand up comedian got his start making prank phone calls for the Buck Wild morning show. He's come a long way since then, first there was success and stand up then eight years on "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah." He's currently on the CNN panel show. ":Have I got news for you?" And now, Roy Wood Jr. is an author. Here's part of our discussion. -
The New York Jets are making what’s considered to be twin blockbuster trades. One of which involves a former tackle for Alabama, who made two key plays in the Crimson Tide’s defeat of Georgia to win the 2018 national championship at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. -
Roy Wood, Jr. has come a long way from Birmingham. He launched his comedy career making prank phone calls for a local radio station in the Magic City in 2001. Along with his current success as a stand up comic, Wood is host of CNN's panel show "Have I Got News For You. That followed eight years as a correspondent on "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah." Wood is also out with a new book titled "The Man of Many Fathers." It's a memoir focusing on his relationship with his dad, civil rights era journalist and radio show host Roy Wood, Sr, All of that's coming up on APR Notebook. -
Governor Kay Ivey announced she is releasing $2 million dollars in state emergency funds to shore up towards eight food banks. The move follows the federal cut off of funding for the SNAP food assistance program on November first. The Trump White House followed up by pledging to use USDA contingency dollars to provide partial funding for the program also known as Food Stamps. The website USA Facts says over 700,000 Alabamians use SNAP benefits to afford groceries. -
President Donald Trump’s administration said that it will partially fund SNAP after two judges issued rulings requiring it to keep the nation's largest food aid program running. The website USA Facts says 750,000 Alabamians depend on SNAP to afford groceries. How soon and how much remain unanswered questions on partially restoring that funding. -
The government shutdown is triggering a wave of closures of Head Start centers, leaving working parents scrambling for child care and shutting some of the nation's neediest children out of preschool. The impact may include head start centers in Alabama. -
Auburn fired coach Hugh Freeze on Sunday, moving on after the Tigers lost for the 12th time in their last 15 Southeastern Conference games. This means the Crimson Tide will soon face two teams led by interim coaches after the LSU Tigers also fired Brian Kelly for a similar disappointing performance on the field. -
It wasn’t immediately clear how quickly the debit cards that beneficiaries use to buy groceries could be reloaded after twin rulings by federal judges. That process often takes one to two weeks. The website USAfacts says 750,000 Alabamians use SNAP dollars to afford enough to eat. -
Two federal judges ruled nearly simultaneously on Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration must to continue to fund SNAP, the nation’s biggest food aid program, using contingency funds during the government shutdown. An estimated 750,000 Alabamians depend on SNAP benefits to eat.
