For those who have been following the topsy-turvy San Diego Wave season from the start, it’s been nothing short of a telenovela with a never-ending cliffhanger. Despite the off-field distractions and inconsistent play on the pitch, SD Wave still has a pulse for sneaking into the playoffs as the eighth and final seed.

The team, led by interim head coach Landon Donavan, will probably need to go undefeated and with the mindset that a draw is the same as a loss starting with the upcoming match on Saturday evening at Snapdragon Stadium versus the Portland Thorns, which will be part of the team’s annual Latino Heritage Night celebration. This event will feature mariachi music, luchadores, lowriders, and Ballet Folklórico leading up to the big game.

The last time both sides met was on Sept. 18 in the Concacaf W Champions Cup with Maria Sanchez scoring a hat-trick in a 3-2 victory after falling behind by two goals. San Diego then went on to lose 1-0 to the Chicago Red Stars on Sept. 21, which kept the Wave in 12th place and six points behind both Racing Louisville and Bay FC.

Portland is in seventh place with 28 points and has not won a league match since its 1-0 win over SD Wave on July 5 at Providence Park.

What complicates matters for San Diego is that it has to outplay four teams to get the final post-season spot with goal differential not likely to serve as an advantage versus Louisville who it will face at home in the regular season finale. The Wave must also travel twice more to take on the North Carolina Courage on Oct. 5 and Kansas City Current on Oct. 19.

If San Diego Wave manages to make the playoffs somehow, it will be playing with house money and could end up becoming a dark horse primed to upset the favorites including the undefeated Orlando Pride, who it would face in the quarterfinal.

Photo by San Diego Wave

U.S. Treasury yields were lower on Friday, with investors looking to the release of key inflation data as they weighed the state of the economy.

At 3:23 a.m. ET, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was down by over one basis point to 3.7714%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last at 3.6021% after falling by more than two basis points.

Yields and prices have an inverted relationship. One basis point equals 0.01%.

Investors on Friday focused on the release of August’s personal consumption expenditures price index, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge and could therefore provide clues about the monetary policy outlook.

Economists are expecting headline PCE to reflect a 2.3% increase on an annual basis and a 0.1% rise from the previous month. Personal income and spending data will be released alongside the PCE figures.

The data comes as investors have been giving renewed attention to the state of the economy after the Federal Reserve announced a hotly anticipated interest rate cut earlier in the month.

Data published Thursday calmed questions about whether there could be an economic downturn ahead and indicated to some investors that the Fed’s reasoning for cutting rates was not in fact a weakening economy.

The final reading of the second-quarter gross domestic product was unrevised, remaining at 3%, while weekly initial jobless claims pulled back by more than expected and durable goods orders for August were unchanged compared with the forecast decline.  

Two San Diego City Councilmembers on Thursday denounced hate amid a rise in hate crimes in the city, state and country, offering tools and resources to report incidents and support victims.

Councilmembers Raul Campillo and Stephen Whitburn met Thursday during United Against Hate Week.

“In District 3, we’ve seen targeted attacks on our LGBTQ+ community and businesses, a stark reminder that hate has real and harmful impacts on our friends, neighbors and loved ones,” Whitburn said. “We cannot and will not allow hate to divide us or undermine the inclusive values that define our city.”

Following a post-pandemic spike in crime in 2021, rates of both violent and property crime in the city and state have declined. Not so for hate crimes, which have increased significantly from that date. According to a San Diego Association of Governments report, the number of incidents had grown from 81 in 2021 to 96 in 2022 and 133 in 2023 — a growth of 64%. The number of victims too has increased by 48% since 2021.

The top motivation for hate crimes in 2021 was race, making up about 70% of the incidents, followed by sexual orientation and religion. However, in 2023 — and displayed in quite a few incidents so far in 2024 — the percentage of crimes motivated by sexual orientation and religion have increased — from a respective 22% and 7% in 2021 to 31% and 24% in 2023.

Earlier this month, a 19-year-old man accused of carrying out a string of pellet gun shootings targeting the LGBTQ+ community in Hillcrest pleaded not guilty to battery charges and hate crime allegations.

Hernan Garduno Hernandez is accused in three separate gel pellet shootings on six victims along University Avenue on the night of Sept. 7.

That night’s first attack happened around 9:40 p.m., when a group of friends standing outside the Burger Lounge restaurant were fired on. Three of the victims were struck in the arms and legs.

About 15 minutes later, an employee of Urban Mo’s Bar & Grill was outside when he was hit by a gel pellet, according to the case prosecutor. Twelve minutes later, a couple walking out of Urban Mo’s were struck in their upper bodies. The couple saw a car drive past and heard laughter coming from the vehicle, she said.

The attacks happened in Hillcrest, the center of San Diego’s LGBTQ+ community.

Whitburn and Campillo today gave a nod to California vs. Hate, a free and confidential online and phone hotline available in over 200 languages that allows people to report hate incidents and receive support — including legal, financial, mental health and mediation services, a statement from the councilmen read.

“Unfortunately, recent data has confirmed what our communities have already felt firsthand: hate is on the rise in San Diego and across the nation,” Campillo said. “By reporting hate incidents using tools like California vs. Hate, we end the normalization of behavior that truly has no place in San Diego or anywhere else.”

San Diego County is not alone in seeing a rise in hate. Gov. Gavin Newsom has acknowledged the problem and maintains the state is on the leading edge to address it.

“In California, we’re coming together in solidarity to say no to the division and hate,” he said. “From United Against Hate Week to cutting-edge anti-hate programs, we’re leading the nation in the fight against hate. We’re not going back and we’re not giving up. We’re committed to a California for all.”