The 2011 Miss Washington has been crowned, and it’s Brittney Henry.

The ceremony was Saturday night in at Lindbergh Senior High School in Renton. Henry’s talent was the fiddle, and her platform was “promoting higher education for low-income families.” She’ll represent the state in January at the Miss America 2012 pageant in Las Vegas. First runner-up was Miss Tahoma, Nicole Erhardt.

A tipster tells us that Henry is an Edgewood resident, after graduating from California State University, Sacramento in December 2009. The tipster also says Henry is a 2005 Puyallup High School graduate.

I’ve left a message for Henry and …

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The four-hour grand opening Thursday of the relocated library for Milton and Edgewood attracted 1,300 people to see and use the new facility.

Hundreds of people waited in line for the library to open at 4 p.m. Thursday at its new location in Surprise Lake Square, a strip mall at 900 Meridian Ave. E., Suite 29, in Milton. The Milton/Edgewood Pierce County Library was moved from its longtime location at Milton’s City Hall complex.

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Edgewood City Council members may vote tonight on about $367,000 worth of proposed budget cuts designed to offset voters’ repeal of a citywide utility tax last month.

During the April 27 special election, about 72 percent of Edgewood voters opposed the 3.5 percent utility tax that the city council enacted in December. The three-year tax would have brought in about $500,000 per year, enough to close the city’s budget gap of roughly $450,000.

The cuts under consideration tonight including reducing the city’s police force by one sheriff’s deputy; laying off two of the city’s 11 full-time employees and cutting street …

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The Milton/Edgewood Pierce County Library will move to a larger, more centrally located site in Milton’s Surprise Lake Square this summer.

The new location will have twice as much space with 6,650 square feet, more computers, and meeting and conference rooms. Books and other materials will be easier to find, according to the Pierce County Library System.

The current Milton/Edgewood library is part of the Milton Senior Center at the Milton City Hall complex, 1000 Laurel St.

The library system will have an open house Feb. 4 at the new site – which is vacant – so residents can give …

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Edgewood officials passed a 3.5 percent utility tax Tuesday night that they said would close the city’s persisting budget gap.

City officials already have cut six positions from the 2010 budget to get the city’s deficit down to about $450,000, said Interim City Manager Mike Caldwell. The utility tax will bring in about $560,000 per year – enough to cover the remaining shortfall, Caldwell said.

City officials estimated the tax will amount to about $14 extra per month for the average Edgewood resident, who they said spends about $400 on combined monthly utility bills.

The Edgewood City Council approved the new utility tax by a vote of 5-2 at a meeting Tuesday night. It will end after three years if the Edgewood City Council doesn’t choose to extend it.

Citizens who spoke Tuesday were mostly supportive of the utility tax, Edgewood residents in overwhelmingly voted down a similar tax of 5 percent when it came to a public vote in 2005.

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Edgewood officials want the public’s opinion on whether the city should impose a utility tax to close a $450,000 budget gap.

Members of the Edgewood City Council will meet Tuesday to decide whether to enact a utility tax of 3.5 percent, which would generate close to $500,000 per year in additional revenue, said Mike Caldwell, Edgewood’s interim city manager.

The tax would amount to about $14 more per month for Edgewood residents who now pay $400 monthly for combined utility services, according to a newsletter city officials sent residents last week.

City officials want citizens to attend Tuesday’s meeting and …

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