The Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal. The chip shortage. Hundreds of ships lined up in the Pacific Ocean waiting for a parking spot.

Americans have been trained to deal with many supply chain disruptions over the past few years, and they may be hit imminently with another whopper: Roughly 45,000 dockworkers at 36 ports on the East and Gulf Coasts could go on strike as soon as 12:01am ET tomorrow if they and marine operators don’t agree to a new contract today.

The damage of closing ports that handle an estimated 60% of US shipping traffic would be devastating and widespread across economic sectors, from retail to automobiles to produce. JPMorgan analysts say a work stoppage could cause $5 billion in economic damage to the US per day. Freight costs for businesses have already risen by up to 20% in anticipation of the strike, and the increases will likely be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices on store shelves.

What do the dockworkers want?

The port workers, who load and unload those boxy containers that underpin international commerce, want higher wages and protections against automating port operations.

The pay issue: The International Longshoremen’s Association, the union that represents the dockworkers at East and Gulf Coast ports, is reportedly holding firm on a 77% pay increase over six years. That may sound like an extreme demand, but workers would point out that wages for veteran dockworkers have increased 11% since the start of the last six-year contract, while inflation has jumped 24% in the same period. The top wage for union dockworkers is $39/hour.

Automation: If East Coast dockworkers and Hollywood actors have anything in common, it’s that they view recent technological advancements as an existential threat to their livelihoods. Protecting human jobs from robots that move cargo is the “signature issue” of union president Harold Daggett, per Axios.

Big picture: If a strike is resolved within a week, experts anticipate minimal economic damage. But the longer it went on, the greater the chaos and potential for shortages and price hikes. The small piece of good news? Retailers have been preparing for a potential strike for months, and some have probably already shipped your holiday gifts to the United States.—NF

North Carolina towns isolated days after Helene. Flooded towns in the mountains of western North Carolina, including the region’s largest city, Asheville, were still struggling on Sunday to regain communication with the outside world due to spotty or nonexistent cell and internet service, per the Washington Post. The area was also cut off physically—the storm caused more than 400 roads to close throughout the state this weekend, including the main routes into Asheville. On Sunday, officials escalated search-and-rescue efforts and airlifted crucial supplies such as gas, water, and food to the area’s residents.

The toll of Helene is coming into view. The deaths of at least 91 people have been attributed to Helene across the Southeast, though North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said the death toll was likely to rise in his state as a result of what he called an “unprecedented tragedy.” Due to high winds and torrential rains, several million customers remained without power as of yesterday evening. The economic losses and damages could total as much as $110 billion, according to AccuWeather’s preliminary estimates, which would make Helene one of the costliest storms ever to hit the US.

Newsom vetoes contentious AI safety bill. California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a controversial bill that would have put first-of-its-kind guardrails around large AI models in the state and created a blueprint for AI regulation nationwide. Newsom said the bill, SB 1047, was “well-intentioned” but focused too much on the size of the AI models and not on the context in which they are deployed. Critics also said it would hurt California’s competitiveness as a leader in AI. SB 1047 divided the tech community, pitting large companies like Meta, OpenAI, and Microsoft (that opposed it) against Elon Musk, Anthropic, and researchers who were instrumental in developing the technology behind generative AI.—NF

Apple is the latest company attempting to free us from the touch screens that have bedeviled consumers for years, even though Apple was the one that took us prisoner in the first place.

When customers unbox the new iPhone 16, they will find it has two additional buttons. Remember, this was the device originally released in 2007 with a touch screen that drove the Blackberry into virtual extinction and transformed the world into one with in-your-face interfaces. Apple’s re-embrace of physical controls is the latest sign that companies are listening to complaints about touch screens that have increasingly pushed customers’ buttons, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Driving change: Tesla-inspired touch screens now adorn car dashboards for everything from radio dials to windshield wiper controls as companies looked to rein in costs. But Kia, BMW, and Volkswagen have responded to negative feedback about screens by adding buttons and knobs back in new vehicles.

It’s also about safety. The influential European New Car Assessment Program said earlier this year that, in order to achieve a five-star safety rating, vehicles must have physical controls for certain features beginning in January 2026. A 2017 study by the AAA Foundation showed that drivers can take more than 40 seconds to complete a task using a touch screen.

Not just the iPhone: Apple returned physical keys across the top of its MacBook Pro in 2021. And e-book readers Kobo, Nook, and Boox include buttons for turning pages.—DL

More Northern kids are watching Alabama–Georgia football games and thinking, “I want that.” The number of Northerners heading to college at Southern public schools has skyrocketed 84% over the past two decades and jumped 30% from 2018 to 2022, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.

Better weather, cheaper tuition, a less politicized environment, and the sense of community during college football Saturdays are the big reasons why college kids are pouring across the Mason-Dixon Line into the SEC, admissions officials told the WSJ. Ole Miss had 11 freshmen from the Northeast in its 2002 class but more than 200 in 2022, Tennessee’s Northeastern freshman population ballooned from ~50 in 2002 to nearly 600 in 2022, and Alabama reported that 11% of students were from the Northeast in 2022. It was less than 1% two decades earlier.—DL

Tim Walz and JD Vance will debate Tuesday night: With no more presidential debates on the schedule before the election in 34 days, the vice presidential debate will be the 2024 campaign’s final major prime-time event. The rules are mostly similar to the two presidential debates except for one key detail: Microphones will not be muted when the candidates are speaking. And both candidates will stand, marking the first time since Joe Biden and Sarah Palin faced off in 2008 that VP debate participants won’t be sitting down. George Costanza will probably try to offer them a chair anyway.

The fat bear market has arrived: Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve is once again putting its beefiest brown bears on display for the world to see (and judge) during Fat Bear Week. The annual event begins with a bracket reveal of the eight bears today, with voting to decide which of these magnificent chonks is the chonkiest on Wednesday. Last year, Fat Bear Week collected 1.3 million votes in an inspiring showing of ursine democracy.

Everything else…

• The September jobs numbers drop on Friday. It’s a key report now that the Fed’s No. 1 priority is keeping the labor market healthy.
• OpenAI said it expects to complete its mega $6.5 billion round of funding this week.
• Former President Jimmy Carter will turn 100 tomorrow, Oct. 1.
• Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins at sundown on Wednesday.
• Before you even ask us what day Mean Girls Day is, it’s October 3.
• Joker: Folie à Deux hits US theaters on Friday. The sequel to the 2019 hit Joker is currently sitting at 63% on Rotten Tomatoes.
• The NHL regular season begins on Friday.—DL