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 lawmakers ended the 2025 legislative session on Wednesday. Here is a look at a few of the notable bills that passed, and some that failed, during the session. -
Alabama lawmakers have passed legislation that would make it a felony to knowingly bring someone into the state who is in the U.S. illegally, echoing similar bills nationwide that could restrict domestic travel for some immigrants. -
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey on Wednesday signed legislation putting new regulations on gummies, drinks and other products containing cannabinoids from hemp, a legal variety of the marijuana plant. -
Alabama legislators honored a long-standing tradition on Wednesday with their annual award for the "deadest bill" of the session, bringing levity to an otherwise politically polarized Statehouse. -
Democratic Senators Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut went to the Senate floor and tried to force a vote on a resolution disapproving of the Qatari gift. The Middle Eastern nation wants to give Donald Trump a thirteen year old Boeing 747 to be the latest Presidential aircraft known as Air Force One. But it was blocked by Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville. -
Hundreds of thousands of Alabamians could be impacted by a budget plan under consideration in the U.S. House. The Republican majority is looking at three hundred billion dollars in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program also known as SNAP. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities says about three quarters of a million Alabamians used the federal food program in 2024. -
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed legislation Tuesday to allow visiting judges to be brought in to handle violent criminal cases to get them to trial more quickly. The law known as the Speedy Trial Act allows the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court to appoint a sitting or retired judge to preside over a specific case or cases involving a violent offense -
A former Alabama police officer who shot an armed Black man is trying to win back his claim to self-defense before his upcoming murder trial, and appealed a judge's pretrial decision as a "gross abuse of discretion." The appeal hinges on Alabama's " stand your ground " law, which grants immunity from prosecution to anyone who uses deadly force as long as they reasonably believe they're in danger and are somewhere they're rightfully allowed to be. -
Former Alabama football star Quinnen Williams and his brother Quincy may need to make room for their younger brother on the roster at the New York Jets. Giovanni Williams is taking part in the rookie camp with the Jets. If he makes it onto the team, it will be the first time in a century that an NFL team has had three brothers playing at the same time. -
Alabama plans to carry out another execution by nitrogen gas and has set a June execution date for a man convicted of the 1988 killing of a woman. Gregory Hunt is scheduled to be put to death June 10 for the 1988 beating death of Karen Lane.
