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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Alabama Public Radio will premiere its new interview program “APR Notebook” later this month. One of my guests will delve into the world of barbecue. That includes its place in Alabama history, the state’s civil rights movement, and the centennial of the BBQ restaurant, known for its “white sauce.” -
Organizers of protests against Donald Trump say close to two thousand demonstrations are planned tomorrow. That’s the day a military parade is scheduled in Washington, D.C. Protests are planned in Mobile and Montgomery as well as in Tuscaloosa. -
A man convicted of beating a woman to death nearly 37 years ago is scheduled to be executed Tuesday in Alabama in what will be the nation's sixth execution with nitrogen gas. Gregory Hunt is scheduled to be put to death Tuesday night. -
Around 300 National Guard troops arrived in Los Angeles early Sunday on orders from President Donald Trump. Critics say the last time a President called out the National Guard without the permission of a Governor was 1965, in Alabama. -
A federal judge just signed off on arguably the biggest change in the history of college sports Friday, clearing the way for schools to begin paying their athletes millions. One answered question is whether the state of Alabama will challenge it. -
The Supreme Court will consider making it harder for convicted murderers to show their lives should be spared because they are intellectually disabled, according an order released early on Friday after an apparent technological glitch. -
The nation is remembering the eighty first anniversary of the D-Day landing during World War Two today. The invasion of Europe by allied forces was supported by navy ships like the U.S.S. Nevada at Utah Beach. Military historians say one other vessel providing cover that day was the cruiser U.S.S. Tuscaloosa. -
A corrections officer on Wednesday agreed to plead guilty to federal charges in the case of a mentally ill man who froze to death in an Alabama jail. Braxton Kee is the 14th employee who has been indicted or pleaded guilty to contributing to the death of Tony Mitchell, 33, who died after being incarcerated in the Walker County jail in January 2023. -
Billionaire Elon Musk said, in response to Trump threatening to cancel his company’s government contracts, he will immediately begin decommissioning the SpaceX Dragon. The rocket that brought two stranded NASA astronauts back to earth is also the only U.S. rocket that can carry crews to and from the International Space Station. Huntsville’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages science on the outpost. -
Former congressional candidate Ken McFeeters announced Tuesday that he is running for governor of Alabama next year, casting himself as a political outsider and accusing his opponent U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville of being a "part of the establishment."
