August 10

Election deadline: Hawaii Primary Election 2030

Voting for Hawaii Primary Election 2030 occurs on this date. Offices on ballot: U.S. Senate; U.S. House (2 seats); Governor; State Legislature. See the linked election record for registration, early voting, and mail ballot deadlines.

Israeli strike kills Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif and colleagues in Gaza

Israel struck a media tent near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, killing Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif and several colleagues. Israel said al-Sharif was a Hamas cell leader involved in rocket attacks; Al Jazeera, press-freedom groups, and U.N. officials rejected or questioned the allegation and said Israel had not provided credible public evidence. The event should be captured as a press-killing and disputed military-justification event, not as a settled finding that the journalists were combatants.

New College trustees vote to dismantle gender studies major in direct curricular intervention

The New College of Florida board of trustees voted to begin dismantling the gender studies major, making it one of the first academic programs in the United States to be eliminated directly by a politically appointed governing board rather than through normal faculty-driven curriculum review. The decision was associated with board member Christopher Rufo, who had publicly described the elimination of gender studies and other programs he associated with critical theory as a central goal of the New College transformation. The action extended governance capture into the content of academic programs themselves, setting a precedent that boards, not faculty, could determine which fields of scholarly inquiry were permissible at a public institution.

Biden signs Camp Lejeune Justice Act veterans exposed to contaminated water gain right to sue

President Biden signs the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 as part of the PACT Act, allowing veterans, their families, and workers who were exposed to contaminated drinking water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina between 1953 and 1987 to file claims or lawsuits against the US government for resulting illnesses. The contaminated water contained volatile organic compounds including TCE, benzene, and PCE, linked to a range of cancers and other serious diseases. Prior federal law blocked such lawsuits. More than 900,000 veterans and family members lived or worked at Camp Lejeune during the contamination period. The act is included alongside the broader PACT Act expanding healthcare for burn pit and toxic exposure veterans.

Senate passes Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act with bipartisan support

The Senate passes the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act by a vote of 69-30, with 19 Republicans joining Democrats. The $1.2 trillion bipartisan package invests in roads, bridges, public transit, broadband, water systems, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The legislation represents a major bipartisan achievement and fulfills a key Biden administration priority.

Ousted chief Scott writes Congress calling Biden border policies a national security threat

Former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott sent a letter to Senate leaders warning that Biden administration immigration policies had created a serious national security threat at the border. Scott wrote that from January 20, 2021, he witnessed an unprecedented seismic shift in border security and immigration policy that created the current border crisis. The letter, which circulated among Republican lawmakers, became a touchstone for GOP border criticism throughout the Biden years and a launching pad for Scott subsequent political activism.

Iowa derecho leaves billions in crop and infrastructure damage

A powerful derecho crossed the Midwest on August 10, 2020, devastating Iowa’s crops, homes, utilities and grain-storage infrastructure. NOAA identified the August derecho as one of the costliest 2020 disasters, with roughly $11 billion in damages before later inflation adjustments. The event showed how severe convective storms can create hurricane-scale economic losses far from the coast.

Federal examiners register 27,000 Black voters in Mississippi and Alabama within first weeks of VRA

Within days of the Voting Rights Act taking effect, federal examiners deployed by the Justice Department begin registering Black voters in Mississippi, Alabama, and other covered Southern states. By the end of 1965, a quarter of a million new Black voters are registered across the covered states, one-third of them through federal examiners. Registration rates for Black voters in the South, which had stood at roughly 30% before the law, begin climbing rapidly toward parity with white voter registration rates.