It's that time of year when we reflect on the top local stories of 2021.

It's been an incredibly eventful year for the St. Cloud area -- and the world.

But first, the obvious...

Obviously, the fight against COVID-19 was the over-riding story not only in the St. Cloud area, but around the globe. So we have not included COVID in our area news stories countdown. But hands-down, it's the biggest story on any local news story countdown in 2021.

On to other local stories and our Top 10.