93-3-WMR Audio on Demand presents the Preston and Steve show podcast.

And now, Preston and Steve's news update with Kathy Romano.

It's Monday, February 8th.

Good morning, Kathy.

Good morning in the news this morning.

School District of Philadelphia teachers are not mandated to report to school buildings today amid COVID-19 safety concerns.

On Friday, Jerry Jordan, the president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, sent an email to members saying they should not go into the buildings on Monday, but they should continue to work.

Some 2,000 teachers were expected to return today to prepare for hybrid

learning, which is set to start on February 22nd. But the union said that there are still many

unanswered safety concerns, including questions over the use of fans for ventilation and the lack of

vaccines for teachers. Superintendent William Haight called the directive a violation of the collective

bargaining agreement reached with the PFT to reopen schools a few months ago.

A mediation process is underway. Without a final decision from the mediator, teachers won't be mandated to report, but any teacher who chooses to report is welcome to do so.

We remain hopeful that the process will ultimately allow both parties to come to a resolution in time for students to return the week of February 22nd, said a spokesperson for the city. PFT called mediation process a massive victory and said that the actions are still on. School district officials had no comment on Sunday night. Philadelphia's educators are expected to protest the issue this morning. An off-duty Philadelphia police officer is accused of driving under the influence when he allegedly

crashed his car into a home injuring two people inside on Saturday night.

A silver, Dodge Dark crashed through the home in the 2800 block of calmly road at about

820 in the evening.

A neighbor helped the man inside the home dig through the rubble to find his

53-year-old wife who was pinned under the car. Geez. Yeah, a bystander also pulled over and he stayed

with the driver while he tried to help the couple inside. Emergency crew has arrived and freed the woman,

taking her to the hospital in critical condition. One of the couple's dogs was also killed in the

crash. Philadelphia police say the driver has been identified as 27-year-old Gregory Campbell, an off-duty

...