With apologies to Humphrey Bogart: Of all the daily newspapers in all the little towns in all of the country, he walks into ours.

This is certainly a common response people have when they hear or read the name Local Agency Formation Commission of Napa County, which is better known simply as LAFCO. For many citizens, LAFCO is the mysterious government agency occasionally referenced in newspaper articles involving local growth and development issues. These articles, however, often provide incomplete descriptions of LAFCO’s responsibilities and frequently raise new questions left unanswered, such as what is a sphere of influence?

Finding information about candidates or topics during election time is easier with the Internet available. We are going to use napavalleyregister.com to make this November’s election as easy as possible to learn all you want about each race on your ballot.

Elected officials in Napa County and all five local cities have given their support to placing a proposition on the ballot to improve local roads. The measure would raise the local sales tax by half a cent to raise $464 million over 30 years.

Dear editor, The Napa Valley Wine Train is a tourist attraction. The traffic on Highway 29 is getting worse and public transportation is not adequate.

Dear editor, I was deeply saddened to read the harsh and unprofessional remarks made by some of the Napa City planning commissioners and neighbors, as reported in the July 12 article about the Fairview Heights affordable housing project ("City ices Coombsville housing site").

Dear editor, Every publication you read today has some recommendations to improve fuel economy. There are no magic bullets in this letter, just some common-sense questions.

As was announced in last week’s Register, I have decided - with the support and encouragement of family, friends and community members - to join the race for American Canyon city council this fall.

This week I read the agreement between the county and American Canyon concerning American Canyon’s borders and other related issues. I advise anyone who is going to vote on it in American Canyon, and anyone in the county who is concerned about growth issues to take a close look at it. There are some issues that trouble me about it, and I can certainly say that it is a pro growth document.

Proposition 8, the "Limit on Marriage, Constitutional Amendment," on the November ballot, calls for an amendment to the state constitution, declaring that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.