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Dawn Patrol: Fog overnight; D300 nears strike deadline

Fog warning overnight in the suburbs

The National Weather Service has issued a dense fog advisory for the Chicago area for overnight Sunday after an usually warm December weekend. According to the advisory, “an unseasonable warm and moist air mass has settled over Northern Illinois and Northwestern Indiana. As widespread cloud cover clears out temperatures will drop quickly allowing for fog to form and quickly reduce visibility.” Visibility in some areas could be less than a quarter of a mile, the advisory said. Full story.

Dist. 300 union not happy with board’s final offer

Members of the Community Unit District 300 union said yesterday that they would not accept the final offer for a new contract from the school board, setting the stage for a tense last day of negotiations before a strike could start as early as Tuesday. “We put what the board is calling their final proposal in front of our members and they gave us a resounding no on accepting it,” said Mike Williamson, LEAD spokesman on Sunday night. “We’re going to to tell them that they have to do better than this.” Negotiations between the union and school board start at 8 a.m. today. Full story.

Crash involving stolen car kills two in Campton Hills

Police are investigating what caused a Wisconsin woman to steal a car, flee police and eventually cause two crashes, one of which killed another driver in Western suburbs on Saturday night. At one point Jennifer Liston, 30, of Madison, Wis., was going faster than 100 mph and passing cars on Route 38 in Campton Hills. She crashed head-on into a car driven by Zachary Bingham, 18, of Maple Park, according to a release from the Campton Hills Police Department. Liston and Bingham both died from their injuries. “It was tragic, senseless and extremely unfortunate,” said Campton Hills Police Chief Dan Hoffman. Full story.

State treasurer Rutherford inches closer to run for governor

In what could be a step toward an anticipated gubernatorial campaign, Illinois State Treasurer Dan Rutherford posted a survey question online yesterday that asks visitors whether they would support him in a run for governor. The question appeared on the downstate Republican’s website, Facebook page and via his Twitter account. Full story.

South Barrington nature center get in the holiday spirit

Families who came to the Stillman Nature Center in South Barrington today not only enjoyed nature on a rare 60-degree December day, but also prepared for the holidays by decorating Yule logs and finding a use for an otherwise invasive species. The center hosted a Yule Log Open House, providing the raw materials for visitors to decorate their own Yule logs: pine cones, greenery, berries and ribbons. Full story.

Weather

The dense fog is expected to hang on before it burns off at about 8 a.m. Temperatures will be warm otherwise, climbing to 66 degrees this afternoon before dipping back to 45 degrees tonight. Full story.

Traffic

The fog is causing some delays at O’Hare International Aiport and Midway Airport and people are urged to check heir airlines before arriving for their flight this morning. In the meantime, construction and widening of Walkup Road from Route 176 to Burning Bush Trail in Crystal Lake continues. Full story.

Controversial, exciting weekend for NIU

What a crazy 48 hours for Northern Illinois. It started Friday night when the Huskies won their second straight Mid-American Conference championship in double overtime over Kent State. On Saturday, they lost coach Dave Doeren to North Carolina State. Then yesterday they not only named offensive coordinator Ron Carey as Doeren’s replacement, but they moved into the top 16 of the final BCS standings and earned a spot in the Orange Bowl against Florida State. While some will call Northern Illinois BCS busters, the Huskies earned their way into the conversation. But some didn’t agree. “The fact that Northern Illinois is in the BCS in 2012 is really a sad state for college football and where we are with the current system,” said ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit. “They don’t deserve to be in the BCS this year. Are you kidding me?” Full story.

Bears lose overtime stunner to Seahawks

The Bears might want to readjust their sights. Not long ago they were aiming at the NFL’s supposed elite teams like the 49ers, Texans, Packers, Giants and Patriots. Now the Bears have to wonder why they couldn’t beat Seattle at home yesterday. Not that the Seahawks are bad. Actually they’re pretty good, with a really neat little rookie quarterback named Russell Wilson. But the Seahawks, while 7-5 overall now, came to Soldier Field with a 1-5 road record and left with a 23-17 overtime victory. Full story.

Smith blames himself, defense for Bears’ meltdown

With today’s game on the line, the Bears’ vaunted and suddenly old-looking defense allowed Seahawks rookie quarterback Russell Wilson to lead his team 177 yards on its final two possessions, resulting in 13 points and an overtime victory. On an otherwise unseasonably warm and pleasant sun-splashed afternoon at Soldier Field, the loss left coach Lovie Smith as angry and disappointed in his defense as he ever has been in nine years with the team. He didn’t excuse himself from blame, either. “Terrible job I did getting our football team ready,” said Smith, whose defense allowed 459 yards. “Defensively, we didn’t get a lot done. We had opportunities to make some plays there late, and we didn’t. Our pass rush wasn’t good enough there at the end.” Full story.

’Twilight,’ ‘Skyfall’ top box office again

The “Twilight” finale and “Skyfall” continued to dominate the box office on a typically slow post-Thanksgiving weekend that brought big business for holdover films but a poor start for Brad Pitt’s new crime story. Sunday studio estimates put “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2” out front for the third-straight weekend with $17.4 million domestically. Pitt’s “Killing Them Softly,” the weekend’s top new release, tanked with just $7 million domestically. Full story.

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