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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Sean McVay says he was thrilled when the Los Angeles Rams drafted Ty Simpson — and anybody who thought the pick created a rift with general manager Les Snead doesn't know their partnership very well. -
Pulitzer prize winning AP photographer, who captured a key moment of civil rights history in Alabama, has died. Jack Thornell’s family confirmed his death at a hospital in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie from complications from kidney disease. -
Sports writers and the NFL thought former Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson would be a mid range pick during round one of the Draft. The Rams had other ideas. -
When NASA planned to send four astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972, the rocket was built here in Alabama. Artemis-2 took the first people to Earth's nearest neighbor since 1972. It trip was a highlight for the U.S. Space Agency. Alabama played a role in one of its low points, the loss of space shuttle Challenger in 1986. The Artemis crew photographed a spot on the moon called the "Ocean of Storms." An astronaut from Mobile, Alabama was supposed to land there during Apollo 12 in 1969. It didn't happen. -
The NFL draft begins tonight. A number of former members of the Crimson Tide will be in the running, two names are predicted to go in the first round. -
More than 17 million people along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts are at the highest risk of being affected by flooding, with New York and New Orleans standing out, according to one of the most comprehensive studies ever of flood risk. Mobile is also on that list. -
Alabama has rewarded football coach Kalen DeBoer and men's basketball coach Nate Oats for getting their teams to the postseason. -
The Southern Poverty Law Center was indicted Tuesday on federal fraud charges alleging it improperly raised millions of dollars to secretly pay leaders of the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups for inside information. -
The system to reimburse business who paid illegal tariffs imposed by President Trump went online this week. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in February that the White House overstepped its authority by imposing the fees on imported goods. Here in Alabama, automotive and aviation companies may benefit the most by pursuing refunds. -
The Southern Poverty Law Center says it's the subject of a criminal investigation by the Justice Department and faces possible charges over its past use of paid informants to infiltrate extremist groups.
