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

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

Today is Tuesday, July 14th. Good morning, Kathy.

Good morning in the news this morning.

Philadelphia managing director Brian Abernaffy is expected to announce

his resignation today during a meeting with city officials. Sources say more details would be made public

on Tuesday and that he would be on the job until September 1st. Abernaffi was appointed managing

director by Mayor Jim Kenney on January 15th, 2019. Multiple sources say that he has been quietly calling colleagues and former colleagues to

tell them the news. They say that he feels burnt out and needs a break after being at the helm

with Kenny through the COVID-19 outbreak and the protests and riots that followed in later months.

Sources say Abernathy's resignation has been in the works for several weeks. He previously served

as first deputy managing director

since January of 2016. City officials said Monday they are looking into the validity of videos

that have been circulating of a large gathering during a block party in southwest Philadelphia over the weekend.

Those that live in the neighborhood said Clips don't tell the full story of what happened,

claiming an earlier celebration did adhere to social distancing guidelines. The video from the celebration at 55th in Belmar Street shows a crowd of people in close quarters during what was described as a block party celebrating numerous occasions. A lot of people in the video are seen without face coverings and obviously gathering close together. One attendee estimates thousands showed up, claiming the cooped-up climate of these last few months

has given people all the motivation to gather.

The neighborhood's initial block party included spaced out tents, participants, masks, and

police presence was there to keep an eye on things, but as the sunset, large crowds from

other neighborhoods began to gather, which became the cause of concern.

Yeah, Kathy, I saw the footage, and everyone seemed to be at least six inches apart. Oh, okay. That's what they're saying. Rule of six. Yeah, six inches apart. They didn't hear the feet thing. The feet, see, that's always it. Is it one slash or two? What a shame. But, you know, like this happens in any neighborhood.

But, you know, other people hear about the party. They want to go see what's going on. And that's what happened. And it was just people from other neighborhoods that gathered. And, yeah, because I was there for a little. Seriously? Looking at the video. Yeah, it's a street party. It's packed. Well, they said, like, it was initially set up, you know, where everybody was distanced.

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