(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Evgeni Malkin is staying in Pittsburgh after all. The Penguins and the Russian star have agreed to a four-year deal that will pay Malkin $6.1 million annually. The two sides reached an agreement just hours before the three-time Stanley Cup-winning center was set to become a free agent for the first time in his career. Instead, the 35-year-old Malkin will remain alongside longtime teammates Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang as the trio head into their late 30s. Letang and the Penguins agreed to a six-year contract last week.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

At Tuesday night’s city council meeting, the Beaver Falls City Council heard a presentation from Connor Haney of The Reclaim Project, a non-profit organization set to help lower recidivism in Beaver County through a re-entry employment program. Nearly a dozen houses that haven’t had taxes paid on them–and are now in the hands of the county itself–are being sought after by The Reclaim Project.

“What we are asking is that the city of Beaver Falls purchase these houses,” Haney said, “and then–through the grant that we have received–once Beaver Falls’ ownership efforts after signing a deed to that house, the county will be able to send a check to you guys that we will then invoice you for minus the cost of the house so that–in the end–the house will cost Beaver Falls nothing. The grant will take care of that.”

Haney also mentioned that the buildings that would be claimed by the city at no charge would not be demolished, but deconstructed. Mayor Kenya Johns thanked Haney for the presentation and his efforts with city manager Charles Jones and fire chief Mark Stowe. The decision on buying the houses was not voted on at the meeting.

Also from the city council meeting:

• Two repository purchases were made to Jacques Pope on 7th Street and ELMM Enterprises, LLC on 3rd Avenue
• A pair of city block parties were set in motion; a Unity For Community basketball tournament on July 31, and a CDC block party on August 2
• A positive update from Fire Chief Mark Stowe on the rescue of two dogs from the fire on College Hill on Monday, including new firefighters who helped with the previously heavier workload by a shorter staff

The next city council meeting will take place on Tuesday, July 26 at the City Building at 7:00 PM.

(File Photo of Gov Wolf courtesy of Pa Media Services)
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf is following in the footsteps of other Democratic governors following the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling and looking to protect patients who travel to Pennsylvania for the procedure from being prosecuted by their home states. Wolf on Tuesday said that he’d refuse a request from any other state to arrest or detain any out-of-state resident traveling to Pennsylvania to seek an abortion. He says he’ll also refuse to arrest or detain anyone providing or assisting with it. Many states are curtailing or banning abortions. Wolf signed an executive order on Tuesday to back up his statement. Abortion remains legal in Pennsylvania up to 24 weeks of pregnancy.

(Hawaii Police Department via AP)
HONOLULU (AP) — A jury in Hawaii has found a Pennsylvania man not guilty of manslaughter. Benjamin Fleming of Pittsburgh was charged with manslaughter in the strangulation death of a college buddy he was vacationing with on the Big Island last year. Fleming and two friends from Carnegie Mellon University were staying at a vacation rental in Kailua-Kona when a night out drinking ended in a deadly fight. An autopsy showed that Abhishek Gupta of Pittsburgh was strangled. Fleming’s defense attorney says that Gupta’s death was tragic but it was not a crime. Prosecutors didn’t immediately comment on the verdict, which was reached last week.

(Photo Courtesy Pa. Media Services/File)
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Citing the need to fight climate change, Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has vetoed Republican-penned legislation that would have stopped municipalities from adopting building codes that prohibit natural gas hookups. Wolf, in a Monday veto message to lawmakers, said the legislation takes away “local decision-making” from municipalities looking to address climate change. The legislation passed the Republican-controlled House and Senate largely along party lines. Republican lawmakers had cast the legislation as protecting consumer energy choice, but also to protect the state’s natural gas industry. States, cities and counties elsewhere in the U.S. have begun looking at all-electric building codes

(AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden is apologizing for saying Latinos are “as unique” as San Antonio breakfast tacos. Through a spokesperson, the first lady apologized Tuesday for “words that conveyed anything but pure admiration and love for the Latino community.” Jill Biden was in San Antonio on Monday to address the annual conference of UnidosUS, a Latino civil rights and advocacy group. In her speech, she said the community’s diversity is as “distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful of the blossoms of Miami and as unique as the breakfast tacos” in San Antonio. The first lady was roundly criticized for the comment. The National Association of Hispanic Journalists tweeted, “We are not tacos.”

(File Photo Courtesy of Pa Media Services)
By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Nursing home trade associations in Pennsylvania say they have agreed to boost staffing levels as part of a deal with Gov. Tom Wolf to increase aid to an industry struggling with high turnover. Wolf on Monday signed legislation authorizing nearly $300 million a year in additional Medicaid payments to nursing homes, which were wracked by the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s almost 20% more annually. Wolf said the deal is a “major step forward for Pennsylvania’s long-term care industry.” Officials say the money should boost worker salaries, staffing levels and retention while stabilizing the facilities’ finances and improving the quality of care.