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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ESPN projects Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson to go late in the first round, or maybe the second round in this Thursday’s NFL Draft. Analysts reportedly describe him as a “boom or bust” developmental talent who may go as early as number twenty one for the Steelers or number forty four for the Jets. Among quarterbacks, Simpson is second only to Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, who represents a overlooked class of athletes. -
Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines heard the comments from former Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson about the teams' matchup last season in the Rose Bowl and responded with his own observations this week, all ahead of this month's NFL draft. -
The dust is settling on the fly-by of the Moon of Artemis-2, and NASA is planning to take a big step this week toward the launch of the next missions, called Artemis-3. These new Moon flights begin with blastoff aboard an Alabama built rocket called the “Space Launch System.” -
Alabama has set a June execution by nitrogen gas for a man convicted of killing two people during a 1998 robbery of a pawn shop. Governor Kay Ivey set a June 11 execution date for Jeffery James Lee, 49. Lee was convicted of killing Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson while robbing a pawn shop that belonged to Ellis. -
The 85-year-old widow of an Alabama military veteran, who was held in federal immigration detention. returned home to France on Friday, according to the French government and her family. -
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday faced federal lawmakers for the first time since September as he sought to defend a more than 12% proposed cut to his department's budget and dodge arrows from angry Democrats along the way. One fight erupted between Kennedy and Alabama Democratic Representative Terri Sewell over comments he made in 2024 about Black children. -
Multiple published reports, led by The Guardian, say former Crimson Tide defensive lineman Luther Davis plans to make a guilty plea later this month to a scam where he wore wigs to impersonate NFL players. -
The four astronauts of NASA‘s Artemis-2 mission are getting used to life on Earth again. The crew splashed down in the Pacific after their flyby of the Moon. The astronauts took photos of the lunar surface, including one spot called the Ocean of Storms. One astronaut from Mobile was supposed to get a lot closer than that. Clifton Williams was meant to land there during Apollo 12 in 1969. -
A south Alabama woman who took part in a No Kings rally in Fairhope last October has been found not guilty following an scuffle with police. A jubilant Renea Gamble emerged from the court room, raising her arms in victory and with a message for her supporters. -
Now that the first lunar travelers in more than a half-century are safely back in Houston with their families, NASA has Artemis III in its sights. One question for this plan appears to be, where’s Apollo 10?
