Lead Story: On Friday, federal agents arrested a suburban teen on terrorism charges after he allegedly tried to set off a bomb outside a downtown bar. The bomb was planted by undercover agents who had been in contact with the teen - who had bragged about his plans online – for several months. While officials haven’t said which bar was the target, the owner of Cal’s Liquors at Wells and Van Buren told the Sun-Times he believes his bar was the target. (Not to make light of the situation, but having visited both Cal’s and Cactus, the much more popular bar next door, something tells me Cal’s probably wasn’t the main target.) While there are certainly echoes of the 2010 arrest of a man who attempted to plant a bomb in a Wrigleyville trash can and the Liberty City six who plotted to bomb the Sears Tower, there are also echoes of the trial of Tahawwur Rana, a local man who, along with David Headley, another local man, were charged in being minor accomplices in planning the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks as well as plotting attacks in Denmark in response to the controversial cartoon portraying the prophet Muhammad. Which brings us back full circle to the recent Innocence of Muslims controversy and ensuing attacks on U.S. embassies overseas.

Also: Things are getting interesting around here with the ongoing teachers strike and its overlap with the union situation in Wisconsin, which itself is now a battleground state in the presidential election. With Mayor Emanuel’s claim that he’ll get a court injunction to force teachers back into class, he’s taking a hard anti-union stance that probably feels familiar to pro-union supporters from Wisconsin. In fact, a large group of Wisconsin teachers joined this weekend’s CTU rally to show support even as a judge struck down parts of Wisconsin governor Scott Walker’s controversial union busting law. The Wisconsin state attorney general has already promised to continue to fight the ruling through appeals. So as Emanuel’s fight against the CTU gets notice north of the state line, his ties to Obama could prove a negative influence on Obama’s fight to keep Wisconsin in the blue.

And then: The city’s violent year continued this weekend with several more wounded and at least four dead from weekend shootings. Yet it was actually overshadowed by another violent incident that, while sensational, didn’t prove deadly when an argument outside the State Street Macy’s culminated in one man throwing another through one of the store’s windows. Aside from the shootings and the State Street incident, an incident in the Hermosa neighborhood left two men stabbed and two women beaten. If there’s any silver lining – and that term is obviously used loosely – at the halfway point, this month is still behind September 2011’s murder rate.

RIP: New Orleans blues musician James “Sugar Boy” Crawford at the age of 77. No city weaves its music into its cultural tapestry quite like New Orleans and Crawford will forever be a part of it, namely for his song “Jock-A-Mo.” The song was later recorded by The Dixie Cups as “Iko Iko” and other variations of the song have been covered by a legion of legendary artists. But Crawford’s career was deeper than just one song and also notable for the way it came to a tragic, premature end: he was pistol-whipped by police in a 1963 incident which resulted in brain injuries. In recent years, though, he had been making more and more public appearances, including taping a scene for an episode of the upcoming season of HBO’s Treme.

Elsewhere

• Four more U.S. troops died in Afghanistan over the weekend, the result of yet another “insider” attack in which Afghani allies have turned on U.S. troops. Meanwhile, a NATO airstrike reportedly killed eight village women in Afghanistan.
• Escalating tensions between China and Japan could soon have an impact on the United States.
• A fascinating look at the trials and tribulations of the family of Coca-Cola founder Asa Candler.
• Britain Prime Minister David Cameron has fired his own cat from its role as “chief mouser” of 10 Downing Street because of poor performance.
• Check out this amazing, gorgeous photo, a composite of x-ray images taken over 200 hours of observations of Kepler’s supernova.

Looking Ahead:

• Yet another exoneration here in Chicago, this time of four men wrongly accused of a 1994 rape and murder. And, thus, the trend continues.
• Around 200 South Side residents held a silent protest of what they call dangerous gang-related funerals.
• Chicago’s Gay & Lesbian Hall of Fame, the only such institution in the country officially recognized by local government, has announced its 15 inductees for this year.
• The complicated relationship between President Obama and hip-hop isn’t going unnoticed this election season.
• Congrats to Chicago’s “Top Chef” Stephanie Izard who recently got engaged to craft brewmaster Greg Valentine

Sports            

• The NHL lockout has begun. Blackhawks fans, you should get to know the Bulls roster because those will be the only games played at the United Center for a while.
• After Brad Keselowski won yesterday’s NASCAR Geico 400 at the Chicagoland Speedway, it was announced that next year’s Chase for the Cup (the NASCAR playoffs) opener would be at the Speedway for the third straight year.
• The Bears brought back Khalil Bell to help fill in for an injured Matt Forte.
• Sox Watch: the Pale Hose remain two games up on Detroit going into today’s make-up game, the last regular season match-up between the two teams.
• The Cubs aren’t the worst franchise in baseball, thank you very much.                    

Finally
It’s Monday so start the week with some amazing facts to blow your mind. [via The Daily What]