* ICYMI: The Quincy City Council denied a controversial ordiance that would have made the town a ‘Sanctuary City for the Unborn.’ WGEM…

- The ordiance failed 7-5 with two aldermen absent.
- Public coment lasted for more than two hours.

* ACLU of Illinois…

We applaud the majority of the Quincy City Council who this evening recognized that the ordinance aimed at limiting access to abortion care was unlawful and unenforceable. The vote came after Quincy residents – some of whom had never attended a City Council meeting – spoke up and urged the Council to reject the fantasies of anti-abortion activists, and focus on the needs of their community. Public participation at the local level clearly still matters.

* Related stories…

∙ WGEM: Push for Quincy to become a Sanctuary City for the Unborn appears on City Council meeting agenda
∙ KHQA: Quincy city council rejects controversial “Sanctuary for the Unborn” ordinance

* Isabel’s top picks…

- SJ-R | Navigator drops CO2 pipeline for second time this year, plans to refile: For the second time this year, Navigator Heartland Greenway LLC has withdrawn its application with the Illinois Commerce Commission to construct a carbon dioxide pipeline through central Illinois. Navigator, a Nebraska-based company, filed its motion on Tuesday but does plan on reinitiating its application later with ICC after completing a full evaluation.

- Crain’s | NASCAR, city still negotiating second street race deal: The Johnson administration is still working toward a final agreement but has commitments from NASCAR to reimburse the city for costs at future races, according to the city official. However, the latest deal still leaves the city holding the bag from the 2023 race, which incurred $2.1 million in street repairs and another $1.1 million in police overtime, according to South Side Weekly.

- Tribune | Manteno EV battery plant promises 2,600 jobs. But far-right legislators are stoking fears over Chinese influence: “I really feel that all of you that think it is OK to have a Communist Chinese company here did not do your homework,” Manteno resident Amelia Cahill said at a recent village board meeting. “You are willing to jeopardize the health of everybody in Manteno and also surrounding areas.”

* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup…

* WTTW | State Lawmakers Seeking Community Input on Chicago’s Elected School Board Map. Here’s What to Know: Valerie Leonard, co-founder of Illinois African Americans for Equitable Redistricting, said her group’s proposed map will align city resources with CPS resources to support student outcomes. For Jessica Cañas, senior community engagement manager at Kids First Chicago, the issue with the Senate’s proposed maps is the lack of Latino representation. The maps are based on Chicago’s overall population, meaning fewer majority Latino districts.

* Sun-Times | Unveiling of city’s 2024 budget will be 2nd big test of Brandon Johnson’s leadership: Johnson will stand before the Chicago City Council and disclose how he plans to deliver on his campaign promise to make $1 billion worth of “investments in people” bankrolled by $800 million in new or increased taxes on businesses and wealthy Chicagoans.

* WBEZ | Boosting the wages of Chicago’s tipped workers could lift thousands out of poverty: To gain a snapshot of some of the region’s tipped workers and to get a sense of how the measure might impact those among them who work in the city, WBEZ analyzed data on wages and other variables from the U.S. Census Bureau 2021 American Community Survey prepared by the University of Minnesota. The numbers are the most recent data we could find that allows us to zoom in close enough to get a glance at tipped workers.

* Shaw Local | Tollway system looking ahead to billions more in construction projects: Although consisting only of 294 centerline miles, the Illinois Tollway system’s five roads span 12 counties and carry more than 1.5 million daily drivers. Other figures from the agency’s 2022 annual report reveal just how much happens on those 294 miles: Almost 80 million toll transactions each month – an average of 2.62 million per day.

* Tribune | Neighborhoods around the city are asked to house more migrants as number surpasses 18,000: Ald. Chris Taliaferro, 29th, said the proposed shelter at the Amundsen Park field house in Galewood was “fundamentally wrong” and that the decision by Mayor Brandon Johnson — who lives in the Austin neighborhood — to delay the move-in of asylum-seekers shows his commitment to listening and responding to the concerns of Chicagoans.

* Block Club | Austin Migrant Shelter Plans ‘On Hold’ After Fierce Neighbor Backlash, Alderman Says: Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th) announced Monday that plans to use Amundsen’s indoor facility at 6200 W. Bloomingdale Ave as a migrant shelter have been put “on hold” as the city works to determine if a nearby office and warehouse would be a more suitable site for a shelter.

* Sun-Times | Venezuelan migrant shot while holding her son outside South Side police station: Romero, 28, a Venezuelan asylum-seeker who has been living temporarily at the South Side police station, was wounded in the buttocks. A man, also a migrant from Venezuela, got hit in his right thigh, police said. Romero said she’d been in Chicago for only a week when she was shot Saturday afternoon.

* Crain’s | Sheriff’s office turns to old-school tactics to combat Mag Mile retail theft: “We wanted to create high visibility,” said Lt. Michael Rivers, who watched as his fellow officers apprehended a shoplifter after the manager at the Walgreens in the Wrigley Building called them. “And not just high visibility, we wanted interactions with the businesses up and down Michigan and Oak Street.”

* Tribune | City settlement deal demands silence from whistleblowers fired by Chicago Treasurer Conyears-Ervin: Of more than three dozen settlements reached with city workers over the past five years, the deal that Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration reached with the treasurer’s ex-employees was the only one that contained what amounts to a gag order, the Tribune found. In a handful of cases, former employees agreed not to discuss the terms of their settlements, but they could still speak freely about their time in city government.

* Sun-Times | Cut recommended to Peoples Gas’ $402M rate increase request, but it’s still a record hike: Consumer advocates want to see the proposed hike slashed below $290 million, which would still top the state’s previous all-time high increase of $240 million approved for Nicor in 2021.

* Crain’s | Northwestern’s Kellogg gets $25 million in memory of Sam Zell: Zell, one of Chicago’s best-known entrepreneurs, initially funded the Zell Fellows Program at Kellogg a decade ago. Nearly 200 second-year MBA students have participated in the program, launching 127 ventures, Kellogg says.

* AP | ‘Ring of fire’ solar eclipse will slice across Americas on Saturday with millions along path: It’s a prelude to the total solar eclipse that will sweep across Mexico, the eastern half of the U.S. and Canada, in six months. Unlike Saturday, when the moon is too far from Earth to completely cover the sun from our perspective, the moon will be at the perfect distance on April 8, 2024.

* Tribune | A ‘Seinfeld’ reunion? Jerry Seinfeld hints that divisive finale might get a redo: “Something is going to happen that has to do with that ending. It hasn’t happened yet,” Seinfeld said to big cheers. “Just what you are thinking about, Larry [David] and I have also been thinking about. So, you’ll see.”