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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Workers at The Mercedes Benz factory near Tuscaloosa begin voting this week on possibly joining the United Auto Workers Union. Not everyone is rolling the red carpet for the UAW.
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An unusually strong solar storm headed toward Earth could produce northern lights in the U.S. this weekend and potentially disrupt power and communications. The latest storm could produce northern lights as far south in the U.S. as Alabama and Northern California
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A research team from the University of South Alabama got more than they bargained for when they spotted a great white shark. It’s the reportedly the first time such a ocean predator has been recorded in Alabama water
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Gambling legislation and proposed changes to the state ethics law failed to win final approval at the end of Alabama’s lawmaking session in Montgomery. Lawmakers faced a public backlash over IVF access. Clinics paused services following a state court ruling equating frozen embryos to children.
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The “Protect The Ball Act” is sponsored by U.S House member Barry Moore of Alabama and Russell Fry of South Carolina. The bill is intended to provide legal safe harbor for the entities that run college sports, which has been under siege from antitrust lawsuits.
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Two NASA astronauts may have to wait ten days before blasting off aboard a rocket built in Decatur. NASA and Boeing say they’re are rolling the Atlas five carrying the new Starliner space capsule off the launch pad for repairs. A faulty valve prompted launch managers to cancel Monday night’s liftoff. The part will need to be replaced.
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Fans of University of Alabama football are mourning the loss of former star player Hootie Ingram. It’s what he did off the field that may be his greatest accomplishment. As Athletic Director, Ingram hired coach Gene Stallings who led Alabama to the 1992 national championship.
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A new survey from Real Estate Witch found homeowners spend an average of $17,958 annually on home expenses such as maintenance, taxes, utilities, and other costs — in addition to payments toward mortgage principal and interest. Homeowners in Alabama appear to pay less when it comes to property taxes.
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Launch managers called off the first astronaut launch of Boeing’s new space capsule because of a valve problem on the Alabama built Atlas-V. The two NASA test pilots had just strapped into Boeing's Starliner capsule for a flight to the International Space Station when the countdown was halted.
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The labor and employment law firm Duddy, Goodwin & Pollard studied workplace racism over fourteen years. The results ranked Alabama worst in the U.S.