William Thompson Prince Georges Maryland

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge in her stylish self at Garter Day procession

The Duchess, wearing a dove-grey dress and coat by Katherine Hooker with a matching Philip Treacy head-piece stood next to the Duchess of Cornwall to watch the Knights and Ladies of the highest order of chivalry processed through the grounds of Windsor Castle ahead of the Order's annual service at St George's Chapel.

The Order, which was founded in 1348, is dedicated to the image and arms of St. George as England's patron saint, it is the pinnacle of the honours system in the . Membership is restricted to 24 Companions, in addition to the Queen, the Prince of Wales and a number of supernumerary knights and ladies, including members of the British and foreign royal families. Members of the Order wear a blue velvet cape and black velvet hat with white plumes during the annual gathering at Windsor.
New appointments for the Garter Day celebration were two Knights, bringing the total number of Garter knights to 23, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, the president of the Supremem

The newlywed first stunned Saturday at Trooping the Colour, Queen Elizabeth II's 85th birthday celebration, wearing a white cotton and wool-blend Alexander McQueen piqué coat and black hat by Sylvia Fletcher of James Lock and Co. Later that day, she joined newly single sister Pippa at a friend's wedding in Berkshire, England, sporting the same topper and a black-and-white Zara dress she'd worn out in 2007. Sunday, Catherine helped fête Prince Philip on his 90th birthday, wearing a bright blue coat she'd chosen for a friend's 2009 wedding, accessorized with her nude L.K. Bennett pumps and a Rachel Trevor-Morgan  hat.

It seems the royal weekend was just a brief, stylish preview of what's to come on Catherine and William's North American tour.

Maryland highway contractor questions SHA audit - Eye on Annapolis

An engineering executive said Wednesday his firm saw no problem with a State Highway Administration bidding process that yielded his firm a $16 million contract in 2008, and has since come under the scrutiny of state auditors .

“I think some of these things are unfair and create a pretty poor perception of some public officials who are doing a pretty good job for the public,” said Steve Zentz, a partner with Rummel, Klepper & Kahl.

RK&K and KCI Technologies won the contract Oct. 15, 2008. Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson Inc. was awarded a similar five-year, $16 million contract for construction management and inspection services in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties about two months later.

The Department of Legislative Services report found SHA did not follow its normal procurement process in awarding the contracts.

They were awarded just months before the winning bidders made donations to a charity golf event promoted by a company part-owned by an SHA official. And other former SHA employees took jobs in the private sector that positioned them to work on contracts they helped craft during their time with the state.

Zentz, a former deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation, said he wasn’t sure what golf tournament the audit referred to.

“A lot of folks contribute to charity golf tournaments,” he said. “We do the same thing. We donate to quite a few of them.”

Zentz said his firm has many former state employees on its payroll.

“It’s not unusual for someone to leave state government and go to work for private contractors,” he said. “We are very careful, as our competitors are, to not have them working on Maryland state highway jobs inside the time frame laid out in the contract.”

SHA policy prohibits former employees from working directly on projects they dealt with during their time with the state, and prohibits firms from hiring former SHA employees to work on such projects within a year of their leaving state employment.

“We’re continuing to serve under our contracts with state highway and others,” Zentz said. “I’m not aware of any problem with the procurement of this contract."

The three companies involved with the contracts audited millions of dollars of business with the state each year.

JMT was paid nearly 37 million by nine state agencies from 2008 to 2010, including $ 33.4 million of SHA, said the Ministry of Budget and Management. (See database DBM dealing with here.

Maryland silversmiths, 1715-1830, with illustrations of their silver and their marks and with a facsimile of the design book of William Faris

History of Frederick County, Maryland

Early settlers of Alabama

Historical Southern families

Maryland records, colonial, revolutionary, county and church, from original sources