Summer

Singer-songwriter Dar Williams is spreading the message that honeybees are stressed out. The species, whose plant pollinating is crucial to food production, is fighting pesticides, mites, and land development that has turned the insects' buffet into an office park. The bees can't take it. So Williams, not only a veteran folk-music songstress but also the daughter of a beekeeper, is doing her part to help save the species - one summer camp at a time. Her crusade has taken her to day and overnight camps from Nova Scotia to Michigan.

LINCOLN, Neb. - Thousands of fish are dying in the Midwest as the hot, dry summer dries up rivers and causes water temperatures to climb in some spots to nearly 100 degrees. About 40,000 shovelnose sturgeon were killed in Iowa last week as water temperatures reached 97 degrees. Nebraska fishery officials said they've seen thousands of dead sturgeon, catfish, carp, and other species in the Lower Platte River, including the endangered pallid sturgeon. And biologists in Illinois said the hot weather has killed tens of thousands of large- and smallmouth bass and channel catfish and is threatening the population of the greater redhorse fish, a state endangered species.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The rain started before Saturday's afternoon practice, but the Eagles continued filing onto the field. They were going to try to outlast the summer storm. It didn't work. Minutes after practice commenced, heavy rain descended onto Lehigh University's athletic fields, prompting coach Andy Reid to send his players back to the locker room. They changed into indoor shoes and practiced in Lehigh's field house, where the hard surface and compressed setting made for unusual practice conditions.

FOR MY MONEY, gazpacho is the king of cold soups. Vichyssoise lovers may beg to differ, preferring their bowls filled with a refined blend of cream, potatoes and leeks. And that's good, don't get me wrong. But when it comes to in-your-face flavor and full-on summer seasonal refreshment, the tomato-based vegetable soup from the Andalusian region of Spain gets my vote. Chilled gazpacho, which is popular in Spain and Portugal, actually comes in three types: red, made with tomatoes and cucumbers, garlic, onion and vinegar; white, which borrows its color from ground almonds and is garnished with grapes; and green, an herb-infused concoction that is sometimes served with shredded lettuce.

LOS ANGELES - Two Hobbit movies are officially becoming three as Peter Jackson and his many Hollywood backers have finalized plans to produce a third movie based on the fantasy book and release it in summer 2014. Talks had been going on for the last several weeks between Warner Bros.' New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, various rights holders, and the principal cast after it became clear that director Jackson wanted to produce three films rather than the planned two. The cast will include many actors from Jackson's successful The Lord of the Rings films, including Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, and Elijah Wood.

The sedate sedans, rugged SUVs, motorcycles, and even a few bicycles stream into the parking lot of the Burlington County Library in Westampton around dusk on summer weekends. Their occupants are not arriving to borrow or return books, although this library does attract crowds like a magnet throughout the week. It's a community gathering place with cafe, teen zone, workshops, and programs. But on Friday and Saturday nights, the crowds at the library's Amphitheater are there to enjoy free outdoor concerts, as they have since 2003.

Bradley Wiggins became the first person from Great Britain to win the Tour de France. What might become the greatest summer in the sports history of Great Britain - admittedly not the most difficult distinction to achieve - continued Sunday in Paris when Bradley Wiggins stepped from his bicycle on the Champs-Elysees as the first Brit to ever win the Tour de France. Combine Wiggins' landmark victory in merely the 99th edition of the Tour with the delirium that attended Andy Murray's advancement to the Wimbledon championship round, and even the continuing disappointment that is the English soccer team - a listless quarterfinal departee from Euro 2012 - can't diminish local excitement.

It's easy to be smitten with the green sauces of summer. Practically every savory meal or snack my family has consumed for the last few weeks has been a delivery vehicle for these uncooked mixtures based on cilantro or parsley harvested from a deck garden or the local farmer's market. Those arepas and empanadas we get take-out from a Venezuelan restaurant? They're merely scoops for a spectacular vegetable puree called guasacaca that accompanies them in a much-too-small take-out tub. The food at a certain Mexican place nearby is very good, but many customers are more in love with the bright, grass-colored blend that is a simple, no-recipe mash of pickled jalapeño juice, cilantro, and garlic.

At the Francis Myers Recreation Center in Southwest Philadelphia, where police say a 12-year-old girl was raped by four boys Monday night, parents and community leaders vowed Tuesday not to let the attack ruin the facility's image. The center was as busy as ever Tuesday, with parents picking up children from summer camp, pushing them on swings, and splashing with them in the pool. In the gym, the grassroots group Fight for Philly urged community members to join them in rallying for economic change.