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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The Shelby County town of Columbiana is becoming the first municipality in the state to pass new restrictions governing future data centers. On Tuesday, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution imposing zoning regulations on water and energy usage, noise, landscape buffer zones and potential harm to the environment. Then, there's Bessemer. -
The State of Alabama and a coalition of law enforcement and non-profit support groups have issued a new report on human trafficking. The study breaks down the issue into vulnerabilities and efforts at combating the crime, which includes sex trafficking and labor trafficking. The Alabama Public Radio newsroom spent fourteen months investigating this problem in the state. -
The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, a protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate who led the Civil Rights Movement for decades after the revered leader's assassination, died Tuesday. Jackson talked with Alabama Public Radio back in 2018 for the newsroom’s international award-winning documentary “The King of Alabama.” He recalled MLK’s impact. -
Robert Duvall, the Oscar-winning actor of matchless versatility and dedication whose classic roles included the intrepid consigliere of the first two "Godfather" movies and the over-the-hill country music singer in "Tender Mercies," has died at age 95. Beginning with his 1962 film debut as Boo Radley, the reclusive neighbor in the movie adaptatation of Harper Lee’s Alabama classic "To Kill a Mockingbird," Duvall created a gallery of unforgettable portrayals. -
An Alabama senator is filing a new bill that creates a new offense for those interfering with first responders.State Senator April Weaver announced the new criminal offense on Monday, which happens when a person "remains 25-feet of a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or emergency services personnel after being told to vacate the area. -
Valentine’s Day is a time for a heart shaped boxes of chocolates, flowers, Champagne, and of course, dinner reservations. Alabama is one of 22 states where romantic couples can get reservations at their local Waffle House. -
The Alabama men’s basketball team hosts South Carolina in Tuscaloosa tomorrow, and a former player is reportedly considering his legal options. Center Charles Bediako, who once played for the San Antonio Spurs’ minor league team lost his court injunction that enabled him to return to Tuscaloosa to play for Alabama. Tide head coach Nate Oats says Bediako is the victim of a broken NCAA system. -
Sarah Marsh of Birmingham, Alabama, was one of 27 Camp Mystic campers and counselors swept to their deaths when floodwaters engulfed cabins at the Texas camp on July 4, 2025. Grieving parents pushed Texas lawmakers to approve new safety requirements for camps, including mandating detailed emergency plans and emergency warning systems. -
Global bond rating agency Standard and Poor's has lowered the borrowing rate for the newly-created Central Alabama Water system.Concerns about the public utility's weakening liquidity, aging assets and substantial reorganization of management cited as some of the reasons.Earlier this week, the “CAW's” long-term rating was downgraded from Double-A to Double-A minus.S&P also warned of further cuts within 90 days, if financial transparency is not improved. -
Governor Kay Ivey signed The Child Predator Death Penalty Act into law. The measure strengthens Alabama’s criminal penalties against those who are convicted of felony sexual crimes against a child. Crimes of first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy, and first-degree sexual assault of victims under the age of 12 would automatically become punishable by death.
