Oil

Many people suggest marinating tofu in a brine or Mexican-seasoned sauce.  I'm going a completely different route and suggested deep-frying the tofu in strips for these tofu fajitas.   Frying adds a small amount of fat in the form of vegetable oil, and gives the tofu a nice texture that adds well with the sautéed peppers, onions and tomatoes.   You can also add in some fresh tomatillos, if you desire a spicier version of the fajitas. - Scott C. Anderson is associate food service director and chef with Shepherd University dining services in Shepherdstown, W.Va.

Police were responding to a minor oil spill around 11 a.m. Wednesday, a supervisor for Washington County Emergency Services said. The spill happened at the intersection of South Burhans Boulevard and Elgin Boulevard.

There was an oil spill on Interstate 81 southbound between Exit 1 in Williamsport and the bridge across the Potomac River, the Washington County Sheriff's Department reported. Police got the call around 7:30 a.m. The interstate shut down briefly at 7:48 a.m. so emergency crews could clean up the spill, but it reopened at 7:53. An engine from the Washington County Emergency Services and one from the Williamsport Volunteer Fire Company were on the scene. — Caleb Calhoun

We can't pick and choose the country's fundamentals To the editor: I wish to comment on the recent article on same-sex marriage. Although I am a Christian and believe in marriage between a man and a woman, I feel due to the government's turn of opinion against religion in the last 50 years or so, they have no right to rule against same-sex marriage. They took prayer or any mention of God out of our schools, they tell us we cannot erect crosses on public land, we cannot display The Ten Commandments in our courthouses due to the politically correct theory of "separation of church and state.

The recipe is from my Grandmother Louise. She used to make this for my birthday dinner every year. This brings back childhood memories and tastes so good.   — Courtesy of Hagerstown Lioness Club President Lou Ann Forrest. The group meets the first Thursday of each month at Academy Theater Banquet & Conference Center in downtown Hagerstown. For more information, call 301-733-0157.   Swiss steak   1 1/2 pounds thick, round steak   1 cup flour   About 1/2 cup vegetable oil   1 1/2 teaspoons salt   1 1/2 teaspoons pepper   2 tablespoons flour   Cut round steak into portion-sized pieces.

A fallen leaf sits in rain water that has motor oil running through it in a parking lot in Hagerstown on Monday.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Engineers removed a temporary cap Thursday that stopped oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from BP's blown-out well in mid-July. No more oil was expected to leak into the sea, but crews were standing by with collection vessels just in case. The cap was removed as a prelude to raising the massive piece of equipment underneath that failed to prevent the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The government wants to replace the failed blowout preventer first to deal with any pressure that is caused when a relief well BP has been drilling intersects the blown-out well.

NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP) -- An oil platform exploded and burned off the Louisiana coast Thursday, the second such disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in less than five months. This time, the Coast Guard said there was no leak, and no one was killed. The Coast Guard initially reported that an oil sheen a mile long and 100 feet wide had begun to spread from the site of the blast, about 200 miles west of the source of BP's massive spill. But hours later, Coast Guard Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesau said crews were unable to find any spill.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A 22-mile-long invisible mist of oil is meandering far below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, where it will probably loiter for months or more, scientists reported Thursday in the first conclusive evidence of an underwater plume from the BP spill. The most worrisome part is the slow pace at which the oil is breaking down in the cold, 40-degree water, making it a long-lasting but unseen threat to vulnerable marine life, experts said. Earlier this month, top federal officials declared the oil in the spill was mostly "gone," and it is gone in the sense you can't see it. But the chemical ingredients of the oil persist more than a half-mile beneath the surface, researchers found.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Justice Department and BP announced Monday that they have finished negotiations to implement a $20 billion fund for victims of the Gulf oil spill and that BP has made a $3 billion initial deposit. Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli said the department is pleased that BP made an initial contribution and had taken "an important step toward honoring its commitment to the president and the residents and business owners in the Gulf region. " The company still needs to ensure that all the necessary funds will be available if something happens to the BP subsidiary that established the trust and that the Justice Department looks forward to completing an appropriate security arrangement in the near future, said Perrelli.