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's congressional map is at stake in a federal trial beginning Monday to decide if the state will keep the new court-created district that led to the election of a second Black representative. The new minority majority U.S. House seat was at the heart of Alabama Public Radio’s eight-month investigation titled “…a new U.S. House seat, if you can keep it.” -
Cooper DeJean, Josh Sweat and the Philadelphia Eagles' ferocious defense denied Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs a Super Bowl three-peat. It wasn't even close. Jalen Hurts up and down career with Alabama also came up during the post-game press conference. -
The Port of Mobile is bracing for Donald Trump’s tariffs against Canada and Mexico which could resume as soon as March. Automakers told CBS News that new car prices could jump by six thousand dollars each if the trade war starts up again. That could hit the Port of Mobile which handles automobile shipments with Mexico. -
Jalen Hurts and six former members of the Alabama Crimson Tide will try to keep the Kansas City Chiefs from a first ever “three peat” in today’s Super Bowl. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs are pursuing history. The Chiefs will try to become the first team to win three straight Super Bowls when they face the Eagles on Sunday in the Superdome. -
The White House crackdown on grant money from the National Institutes of Health has universities concerned, reportedly including UAB. Donald Trump’s move against diversity programs could change how research schools spend federal dollars. The current policy allows half of NIH grants to be used for staff or other costs. The White House wants that trimmed to fifteen percent. UAB received three quarters of a billion from NIH in 2022. -
An Alabama inmate convicted of murdering a woman after breaking into her apartment as she slept was put to death Thursday evening in the nation's fourth execution using nitrogen gas. Demetrius Frazier, 52, was pronounced dead at 6:36 p.m. CST at a south Alabama prison for his murder conviction in the 1991 rape and killing of 41-year-old Pauline Brown. -
Former Alabama football coach Nick Saban is known for winning college football championships. Fans can also have fun adding up the number of his players who now wear Super Bowl rings. The total currently sits at thirteen. Saban's total could jump by seven this Sunday, but only if things go well for the Philadelphia Eagles. Our story begins with the coach’s last championship win at Alabama, and how one player fit in. -
The latest twist in the ongoing concern over reported White House plans to end the U.S. Department of Education came this week. The Associated Press says members of the so- called Department of Government Efficiency were seen on Monday at the Department of Education, which Trump has vowed to abolish. Observers are already speculating on what impact could come if this particular agency goes away. One belief is that small, and often conservative states like Alabama might feel the brunt of such a move. -
Over a million people in Alabama may be impacted by President Donald Trump’s latest budget action in less than a week. A federal judge stopped the White House Budget Office temporarily blocking all grants and loans that aren’t in line with Trump’s priorities. That order expires this coming Monday. The details are still being worked out, but apparently Medicaid, the Head Start Program, Section eight housing subsidies are included. Over one million Alabamians reportedly use these services. -
Seven former members of the Alabama Crimson Tide will be hunting for some new jewelry a week from this Sunday. The Philadelphia Eagles will face the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl, where the winning players later collect commemorative rings.
