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 pain Americans are facing at airports across the country is expected to get worse this week if Congress is unable to reach a deal to reopen the federal government. At Birmingham/Shuttlesworth International Airport, passengers woke up to fourteen early flight cancellations today, following a weekend of similar frustrations, according to the website FlightAware. -
Some of the first wintry weather of the season is on the way for much of the U.S. in the coming days, including potentially record low temperatures for parts of the South and snow in the Northern Plains. Alabama woke up in the upper twenties in Huntsville, upper forties in Mobile, and mid thirties over much of the rest of the state. Chillier conditions are yet to come. -
Birmingham/Shuttlesworth International Airport is on track to equal or surpass Saturday’s cancellations as the federal shutdown drags on. U.S. airlines canceled more than 2,500 weekend flights by Saturday evening. This morning, the website FlightAware said Birmingham’s airport saw seventeen cancellations (updated) Sunday morning, after fifteen flights were called off on Saturday. Three flights were cancelled on Friday, and none on Thursday. -
It was well into the second quarter before Alabama scored its first touchdown against LSU. But, the Tide widened the gap during the remainder of the game as the team delivered its best defensive effort in Southeastern Conference play this season and beat LSU 20-9 on Saturday night, keeping the Tigers out of the end zone for the first time since the 2012 national championship game. -
U.S. airlines began canceling hundreds of flights Thursday due to the Federal Aviation Administration’s order to reduce traffic at the country’s busiest airports starting Friday because of the government shutdown. That appears to include Birmingham/Shuttlesworth International Airport, but not at the rates seen in larger airline hubs. -
Some of the first wintry weather of the season is on the way. Huntsville is forecast to see a low of twenty two degrees Monday night, Tuscaloosa and Selma are facing twenty three, and Mobile at thirty one. It’s going to be cold for much of the U.S. in the coming days, including potentially record low temperatures for parts of the South and snow in the Northern Plains. -
Number four ranked Alabama stumbled last November with a College Football Playoff spot within reach. The Crimson Tide lost at unranked Oklahoma and got left out of the postseason bracket. The setback still resonates with this year's team heading into Saturday's home game against regrouping LSU. -
Alabama singer and songwriter Jason Isbell talked on “APR Notebook” about his new album, “Foxes in the Snow.” That compilation of original songs has led to his latest three Grammy nominations. Isbell will be considered in the category of “Best Folk Album.” The title track is also up for “Best American Roots Song,” and another number from the album, “Crimson and Clay," will compete for “Best American Roots Performance.” -
Woodrow Lowe, a three-time All-American linebacker at Alabama and an 11-year starter for the NFL's San Diego Chargers, has died. He was 71. Lowe died at his home in Collierville, Tennessee, on Thursday, according to the National Football Foundation. -
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.
