Cowboys' wild win, Dallas pension's big loss, poet's great year: Your New Year's Eve morning roundup

Good morning! Here is a look at the top headlines as we start the day. Weather: A 30 percent chance for rain in the morning, becoming mostly sunny in the afternoon with a high of 59.  [Morning roundup]( 12/31/2018 By Wayne Carter and Nataly Keomoungkhoun Good morning! Here is a look at the top headlines as we start the day. 🌤️ Weather: A 30 percent chance for rain in the morning, becoming mostly sunny in the afternoon with a high of 59. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [her]( Running back Ezekiel Elliott (left) celebrates with tight end Blake Jarwin after one of Jarwin's three TD catches in the Cowboys' 36-35 win over the New York Giants on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. (Shaban Athuman/Staff Photographer) DALLAS COWBOYS [Cowboys beat Giants in wild season finale]( The Dallas Cowboys have punched their ticket to the playoffs, which means there wasn't much on the line for their regular-season finale against the New York Giants. Still, the Cowboys pulled off [a 36-35 victory]( thanks to a late touchdown catch by Cole Beasley and the go-ahead two-point conversion from Michael Gallup that followed. The Cowboys will host the Seattle Seahawks at AT&T Stadium on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. in [a NFC wild-card playoff matchup.]( [Read Jon Machota's five thoughts from the Cowboys' thrilling win.]( 'Hat trick': Cowboys tight end Blake Jarwin's teammates seemed to enjoy [his three-touchdown game]( as much as he did. In the Stars: Why Stars General manager Jim Nill [agrees with the hockey aspect of Jim Lites' critique]( but not the tone. ADVERTISEMENT LOCAL NEWS [Dallas Police and Fire Pension System sells Napa County resort at a big loss]( The Dallas Police and Fire Pension System is finally free from one major piece of its costly plunge into luxury real estate. Executive Director Kelly Gottschalk said the system [recently sold 3,100 acres that includes the historic Aetna Springs Resort in Pope Valley, Calif.]( to Alchemy Resorts for $22 million. Gottschalk said the system has spent nearly $111 million on the property, which it purchased in 2006. The troubled Napa investment was one of many that helped put the fund on a path to insolvency before an overhaul in 2017. In the 2000s, the fund's former leaders, chasing big returns, sank hundreds of millions of dollars into unusual alternative investments. System officials overvalued many of the properties for years. And they expressed overconfidence: In 2012, the system's comprehensive annual financial report declared in its introduction that the fund's "investment strategy has proved successful." Also: DFW Airport is preparing for record growth [as a decision looms on the long-discussed Terminal F.]( Accidental death: A Plano woman was killed and her son injured [by a falling tree at a national park in Tennessee.]( EDITORS' PICKS - New Year's Eve in North Texas: Here's everything you need to know [for fireworks, feasts and family.]( - Arts: Taking a cue from the Dallas Museum of Art, the Nasher is offering free admission — [as in one day a month.]( - Fatal shooting: A woman was killed during a struggle [after she took a man's gun from a car in Oak Cliff]( police say. Poet Edyka Chilomé is poised for bigger things in 2019. (Shaban Athuman/Staff Photographer) FINALLY... [From chronic illness to working with Sandra Cisneros, local poet Edyka Chilomé had a year to remember]( Edyka Chilomé sat in the audience at Cara Mia Theatre’s April 2018 world premiere of Where Earth Meets Sky, a play she helped write three years ago. But as she watched the story that she helped create play out on stage, flashes of severe lower back pain brought on by the scoliosis she was diagnosed with earlier in 2018 made it difficult for her to sit through the performance. "They were gonna have drag me in there on a bed like Frida Kahlo because I was gonna be there," Chilomé said, referring to the Mexican artist who suffered chronic back pain most of her life due to illness and injury. "Nothing was gonna keep me from being there." Despite that difficult start, [Chilomé is on an upward trajectory and the cusp of something great.]( 👋 That's all for this morning! For up-to-the-minute news and analysis, check out [DallasNews.com](. Share the love! If you like this newsletter, please forward this email to a friend and [check out our other newsletters here](. Do you have feedback? Send your thoughts, questions, praise and corrections to [newsletters@dallasnews.com](mailto:newsletter-feedback@dallasnews.com?subject=). 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