What's happening, Chicago?
The Chicago of 2006 is oh so clearly not your father's Chicago, or grandfather's. And we're not talking here about the band Chicago, the brassy one that has lost maybe 25 (or 6 to 4) of its members over the years.

From the AP
• Man Buys Smoker, Finds Human Leg Inside • Coach Stops Runaway Horse by Biting Ear • Man Allegedly Tries to Use 'Blurry' $100 • Police Break Up Brawl at Chuck E. Cheese • Suggestive Card Ruffles Farmer's Feathers • Nerds to Auction Themselves to Women • Toilet to Tap? San Jose Probes Plan • Seattle to Allow Pygmy Goats As Pets • Yankees Rookies Dress Up in Oz Costumes

The city of Chicago was formerly one tough meat-packing town, with residents ranging from the wild, pugilistic Dennis Rodman of the basketball court to the big bad Leroy Brown of Jim Croce's song-writing mind. And its politicians were toughest of all, from the first Mayor Richard Daley on down. Its aldermen knew how to look out for their own interests and wallets, without getting distracted by the kind of do-gooder politics made famous in zany places like California.

Now Chicago's City Council is leading the charge on all kinds of reform-minded legislation, the type that doesn't trust people to stand on their own two feet and make their own decisions, stupid or not. If they wanted to receive miserable compensation to help the owner of Wal-Mart Stores become a billionaire, they could once do that, but no more.

The aldermen approved an ordinance last week that will require Wal-Mart and other big chain stores with at least 90,000 square feet to pay employees a "living wage" of $10 or more an hour, plus $3 in fringe benefits. Wal-Mart officials have said they'll look to build in the suburbs instead of the city as a result.

Foie gras fuss
Chicago's big-box ordinance comes after the city already banned the use of cell phones while driving and prohibited smoking in nearly all public places. It's discussing another proposal to prevent fast-food chains from cooking with artery-clogging trans fat oils.

And back in April, the Second City became the first in the United States to outlaw the sale of foie gras. That's because animal-rights activists complain the geese and ducks who provide the liver delicacy are force-fed in harsh ways to fatten them up. Not everyone considers the animals the biggest victims for the aldermen to worry about, according to The Associated Press, which noted Mayor Richard M. Daley was among the critics.

"We have children getting killed by gang leaders and dope dealers," the mayor said. "We have real issues here in this city. And we're dealing with foie gras?"

While the aldermen have been mocked by some as behavior police, their actions could also be viewed as a sign of how the city has changed. There are a lot more white-collar offices and a lot fewer steel mills and stockyards around than in the old days. "This is the legislation of refinement," said Perry Duis, a University of Illinois-Chicago historian. "This is a city of Starbucks rather than the steel mill."

The Daley double
If you're confused about how Richard Daley is still mayor of Chicago when you thought he was dead, or wondering how he could be mayor for half a century, then you must be that person who thinks the Robert Casey running for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania is the one who used to be the state's governor (or that President George Bush is the same as former President George Bush).

There's this whole father-and-son thing in certain political circles, see. Richard J. Daley was the tough-talking, malapropping mayor from 1955 until his death in 1976. His son, Richard M. Daley, was elected mayor in 1989, and if he's re-elected in 2007 (he won 79 percent of the vote last time) he will surpass his father's length of tenure on Christmas Day 2010.

Though Richard M. has taken some hits from corruption and scandal among some members of his administration, the city has generally prospered in recent years. Time Magazine in 2005 named him the best of any mayors among the nation's largest cities.

Richard J. was considered the last of the big-city Democratic machine bosses. His national perception was at its lowest during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, when Chicago police officers were famously accused of using "Gestapo tactics" on war protesters. Over the years, however, he has been remembered as making Chicago the "city that works." A 1999 poll of national historians, political scientists and urban experts for a book, "The American Mayor," named him the sixth best mayor in U.S. history.

An Olympian host
Only a Daley would know for sure, but it seems reasonable from afar to question whether Richard J. would have been nearly as visible and comfortable around 12,000 gay athletes as his son seemed to be. The mayor embraced the international Gay Games, which lasted a week in Chicago and wrapped up July 22. His city was also generally praised by the participants for its hospitality toward them.

"It worked out very, very well. It shows you we can put the Olympic Games right here in Chicago," the second Mayor Daley said, referring to the much bigger games in which sexual orientation is not an issue, though doping is.

Chicago received word last week that it, Los Angeles and San Francisco remain potential applicants to host the 2016 Olympic Games, while the U.S. Olympic Committee shot down the bids from Philadelphia and Houston. The USOC will submit one of the three cities as its nominee to the International Olympic Committee next spring. The Chicago Tribune reported that Olympic officials will likely view Chicago's bid more favorably if Daley continues as mayor for another term. Or perhaps, until one of his four children is ready to take over.