Kirk Siegler

July 10 is the 100th anniversary of the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth, and a large crowd is expected in Death Valley to celebrate it. In fact, summer is the area's busiest tourist season. Many of these "heat tourists" come from Europe, eager to feel temperatures they don't get at home.

Nevertheless, the fire that started on Tuesday is being called the most destructive fire in Colorado's history.

In California, activists and environmentalists are seeking to halt construction of a new $500 million rail yard next to the Port of Los Angeles. Activists say the massive project would mean even more pollution for nearby neighborhoods that already have some of the worst air in the country.

Audie Cornish talks with NPR's Kirk Siegler about Friday's shootings in Santa Monica, Calif. A gunman killed six people before he was shot and killed.

There's significance behind the choice of California as the venue for the U.S.-China summit between presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping. The state is home to more than a third of the China-born population in the U.S., and Chinese-backed investment groups have been pouring billions of dollars into real estate property and private companies based in California. At the same time, exports of California goods to China are surging, and state leaders are bullish about capitalizing on new markets there.

Hundreds of volunteers have come to Moore, Okla., to help the community following Monday's tornado. Some are helping clear debris, others bringing out water and supplies to people whose homes were damaged or destroyed, and whose lives are in disarray. One group of volunteers is cooking more than 10,000 meals a day.

Yahoo is expected to announce Monday that it's acquiring the social media site Tumblr, in a deal The Wall Street Journal and other news outlets are reporting to be worth about $1.1 billion. Some analysts are calling the acquisition an effort by Yahoo to be "cool and relevant" again.

California is about to become the first state to require shore power at its ports. A new law mandates at least half of a shipping line's fleet to shut down their diesel engines and plug into shore-side electric power when they unload their cargo. It's part of a larger effort to cut pollution at the state's busiest ports, but costs have been a sticking point.

Many farmers are cheering government proposals to give thousands of seasonal farmworkers a path to legal status. But even if the bill passes, it won't solve the long-term trend of fewer migrants coming north to work on U.S. farms. Farmers will instead have to learn how to do more with less immigrant labor.

Republicans are meeting in a Democratic stronghold this week to talk about retooling their message. So far, there are sharp divisions among RNC delegates about the future direction of the GOP.