No, the headline of this piece does not concern Mayor Linda T. Johnson, or any other city or civic leader in our fair city.

I’m talking about something really important here, real canines.

Soon, you’ll be able to find out.

As I’ve mentioned before here, I think, we are in the process of redesigning our Web site. The new www.suffolknewsherald.com should be ready to roll out about any day now, and we think our audience is going to be pleased.

Of course it will have all the local news, but it should be an easier-to-navigate site and it will have more tidbit information on the home page. For example, you won’t have to go to the obituary page to find out who died or go to the opinion page to find out who was writing about what. Synopses of these items will be located on the home page.

Perhaps the thing I’m most excited about, however, is our “Top Dog” page.

Every week, Web site readers will be able to cast ballots for Suffolk’s “Top Dog.” We’ll be featuring three or four critters each week with photos and a little bio. That week’s winner will move on to the next week to face other challengers. At the end of the year, the weekly winners will compete for the title of “Top Dog in Suffolk.”

Pretty impressive, I know.

It’s just something fun to do. We hope you’ll participate. There will be weekly prizes for the winners or their owners, like food coupons, as well as a grand prize that we’ll determine later.

If you have a dog (any pet is eligible n cat, ferret, iguana, horse, pig, chicken, etc.) just snap a photo and jot down some information, like the animal’s name, age, breed, what makes them special and owner’s name, and send an e-mail to doug.grant@suffolknewsherald.com.

Here’s an example. Were I to enter my dog, it might read as follows:

“Faith Prutsok is a 10-year-old neurotic Lhasapoo, with a freakishly enormous head. She owns Andy and Cathy Prutsok of Suffolk. Faith will fetch a ball until her heart explodes and she dies. She is also able to remain indoors for up to 18 hours without having an accident.”

Don’t you think you have the greatest pet in the world? If so, here’s your chance to let the world (or at least our little corner of it) know it. Please submit entries now, because we’re getting ready to fire it up.

Another thing we’re trying to do with the site is to increase blogging opportunities. Our plan is to allow readers to start their own blogs on suffolknewsherald.com.

It might be a little rough at first, but we think we’re getting it working. Unlike the current blog site, those who want to participate will have to register and abide by certain standards that we will publish.

Those who read the news on line will also be able to post comments on the bottom of news stories.

We’re also increasing the size of advertisements on the site. Most Web sites are finding that those little tile ads we’ve all be using are not effective enough because they don’t allow advertisers to convey enough information. Please visit our advertisers’ sites, because it is they who make it possible for us to bring you the News-Herald on line for free.

If you are interested in advertising on suffolknewsherald.com, and driving some of our more than 100,000 unique visitors a month to your Web site, please contact me.

But you better do it soon. Pricing is based on the number of visitors and it is bound to go up once the new site is launched. You can lock in at today’s current low prices for up to a year.

See you on the Web.

Andy Prutsok is publisher of the News-Herald. He can be reached at 934-9611 or at andy.prutsok@suffolknewsherald.com.