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Politics & Government

Patch Poll: You Pick the Top Stories of 2011

For the most part, this is what editors do at the end of the year. We'll let you decide: What stories do you think were "tops" in 2011?

Picking the "top" stories of the year is a fun exercise, but it's also challenging.

What qualifies as "tops," anyway?

Is it an event of historic significance? In that case, you might say the Blizzard of 2011 or the Delnor/DCH merger or the closing of the Fermillab Tevatron.

Find out what's happening in Genevawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Is it the story that got the most national headlines and sound bites? Then the Karen Dobner campaign against synthetic drugs or the Geneva dance grinding stories might be among your top 10.

Is it the truly compelling story, like that of Randy Suchy, who drowned in an attempt to save two boys at the Geneva dam?

Find out what's happening in Genevawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Or, if conflict is at the center of all storytelling, is it the cantankerous battles over fire pits, sandwich boards, School Board spending or the Kane County Board chairmanship?

I'm very curious to know what you think.

Below is the extraordinarily unscientific poll. I'll be posting my picks for the tops stories of the year, but honestly, who cares about that? Long gone are the days when folks blindly followed the newspaper editorial or political endorsement—indeed, if that day ever truly existed.

Rise up. State your case. And if you don't see the really big story on the list, let us know in the comments field. (The links are below, for your E-Z reference, and the poll is below that.)

  1. Store Closings: , Close Doors
  2. as
  3. Outside Settler's Hill Landfill
  4. ,
  5. Vs. for Kane County Board chair
  6. at End of the Year
  7. and
  8. Vs.
  9. Celebrity Sightings: , in Geneva
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