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Update: 4:18 p.m. The Paducah & Louisville Railway has opened a new "outreach center" at West Point City Hall at 509 Elm Street for all claims other than excess mileage incurred because Dixie Highway has been closed, a spokeswoman for the company said.

The existing "outreach center" at the VFW Post 1181, at 6518 Blevins Gap Road, will only handle mileage claims, the company spokeswoman said.

(Read more about the outreach center.)

In biology, a slant culture occurs when you tilt the test tube to maximize your potential area for cellular growth.

The producing companies of the Slant Culture Theatre Festival are taking a similar approach: by joining forces for an 11-day festival, they hope to create conditions—and a culture—that are favorable to growth for all of the performers and organizations.

Slant Culture opens at Walden Theatre Thursday and runs through Sunday, November 18. 

The head of the Paducah & Louisville Railway says the company has paid out at least $325,000 in reimbursements so far after a train derailed in southwest Louisville and caused a chemical fire.

CEO Tony Wreck told The Associated Press on Monday that the money has gone to help pay the expenses of people evacuated from their homes after the Oct. 29 crash.

Evacuations were lifted Sunday and homeowners were being allowed back into the town of West Point four days after a chemical fire started at the site.

Jefferson County Public Schools students are off Monday but school staff has been asked to review and discuss the new Unbridled Learning accountability results released last week by the Kentucky Department of Education.

Leading Broadway director Kenny Leon will speak at the University of Louisville today. The public event, styled on “Inside the Actor’s Studio,” is sponsored by U of L's African American Theatre Program and begins at 5 p.m. at the Playhouse on Third Street.

Leon is the co-founder and artistic director of Atlanta’s True Colors Theatre, a company dedicated to producing and preserving the diversity of African American theater. 

University of Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart says he'll replace Joker Phillips as the Wildcats' football coach at season's end.

Barnhart made the announcement today in an open letter to fans, saying the search for a new coach will begin immediately.

Phillips will coach the Wildcats' final two games of the season against Samford and Tennessee.

Republican Richard Mourdock is in what was considered a tight race for Indiana’s Senate seat. But a recent poll has him down by 11-points to Democrat Joe Donnelly, and observers say the race is leaning Democratic.

Before that poll was released, Mourdock was focusing on his small government policies and the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya, while trying to keep distance from his controversial comments about rape pregnancies. 

I talked to Mourdock about those remarks, working with the next president and why he thinks the Beghazi attack is being overlooked.

How Kentucky and Indiana side in the presidential election appears to be a foregone conclusion -- both states are likely to side with Republican challenger Mitt Romney, according to forecasters. But the states have races aplenty to watch on the state and local level.

Here are some of the things to keep an eye on:

Update 6 p.m.: The two train cars containing hydrogen fluoride have been stabilized, and the shelter-in-place for the surrounding area is no longer in effect. The evacuations that were in effect for those within 1.2 miles of the site has also been lifted, and there are no longer any restrictions on air and water traffic.

Dixie Highway will remain close until further notice.

MetroSafe spokeswoman Jody Duncan says there were no complications today when stabilizing the hydrogen fluoride cars.