BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) – With the new year here, several laws have taken effect in Kentucky.

A major question on the 2024 ballot was deciding whether or not to allow medicinal cannabis businesses to operate in the commonwealth.

Governor Beshear signed the program into law in 2023, in part so “patients have access to medical providers and treatment for qualifying conditions.”

Through a license lottery, four dispensaries in the South Central Kentucky area were chosen to offer medical marijuana starting this year. Officials picked Zeus Agoraios in Franklin and three locations in Bowling Green: AR-MO-KY-MS Cannabis Ventures LLC, Promo Pulse LLC and Flower Radar LLC.

These are qualifications people must meet in order to receive a medical marijuana card:

• You must be a resident of Kentucky.
• You must be at least 18 years old.
• You must have a qualifying medical condition such as cancer, chronic pain, muscle spasms or PTSD.
• You need a written certification from a licensed medical practitioner confirming your condition.
• You cannot have a felony record.

“I think any time you you’re dealing with a new agency that’s handling a new government type of medical option it’s going to be a little difficult, but we’ve been trying to work really hard to navigate with the patients and give them a step by step form of papers so that they understand this whole process,” Stacia Staples, an APRN who is on the eligible practitioner list, said.

Another law starting Jan. 1 is a new limit to vape shops. In an attempt to curb the youth’s use of nicotine, only nicotine vapes sold under an approved U.S. Food and Drug Administration list are legal to sell. Those not approved or certified must be off shelves by the first.

“All of those things, my hope is that the new law will affect what our vape stores are selling. They’re popping up all over the city and, you know, you see young people in and out buying vapes,” Bowling Green Attorney Hillary Hightower said. “What’s in those vapes is not regulated, a lot of them come from China; they’re not tested.”

On the flipside, some businesses are distraught over the new law.

“We’ve been railroaded, and it feels bad. It’s just a real **** deal, and none of the politicians seem to care,” Vette City Vape co-owner Cordell Gary said. “Here we are, four days from when this takes effect, and Kentucky keeps saying, ‘Oh, we’re going to approve some products. It’s not going to be as bad as it looks. We’re going to do it.’ Well, people are closing their doors right now.”

Another new law will require Kentucky drivers to take a vision screening when renewing their driver’s license or permit. The new legislation aims to improve driver safety. Warren County Sheriff Brett Hightower said the screening will only take a few minutes, at most, and will help identify potential health issues.

The screening is free and can be done during your renewal appointment. Drivers who don’t pass will be referred to a vision specialist for further examination.

Copyright 2025 WBKO. All rights reserved.

(WKYT) – Today’s Good Question is: Why did the House and Senate of Kentucky pass legislation in this last 2024 session, even though it was vetoed?

The simplest answer is because they could. A veto from the governor doesn’t mean legislation can’t be passed. However, it does mean a certain number of lawmakers have to go against the governor to proceed with it.

When a bill is passed by the Kentucky General Assembly, it goes on to the governor, who then has three options with how to proceed: they may sign it, permit it to become law without their signature or veto it.

The governor has 10 days to act on a bill, so lawmakers usually pass their priority bills before what is known as the veto recess. That makes sure, when they come back, they will have time to vote to override any potential vetoes in the last two days.

Again, a veto from the governor means he doesn’t support it, but it could still become law.

Kentucky is one of six states that only requires a simple majority to override a veto.

Republicans will control 80 of 100 seats in the House this session, with 31 of 38 seats in the Senate, so getting to that majority doesn’t even take all of their members.

So, if party leaders want a bill to be passed, even if the governor opposes it, they have the numbers to make it happen.

If you have a Good Question you’d like us to try to answer, send it to goodquestion@wkyt.com.

Copyright 2025 WKYT. All rights reserved.

With the Kentucky Wildcats ranked in the top 10 with an 11-2 record, including big wins over Duke and Gonzaga, it’s been a good start to the Mark Pope era as the non-conference slate comes to an end.

However, the most difficult is yet to come.

Entering conference play in an SEC that is being discussed as one of the strongest conferences in recent memory, Kentucky has one of the toughest remaining schedules in the country. 14 of their 18 conference games will be Quad I opportunities. Their first opponent will be the Florida Gators on Saturday.

Considered one of the best young coaches in the country, Todd Golden has led Florida to a 13-0 record, holding the nation’s longest active win streak and No. 5 national ranking in the Coaches Poll. However, the Gators have played just one top-50 KenPom team in a struggling North Carolina squad.

Is Kentucky ready for the physicality of the SEC? Is Florida for real? Let’s take a look at the matchup.

Pace and Defense

Kentucky and Florida both rank top 10 in field goal attempts and average just more than 15 seconds per possession. Meaning, this is going to be a fast-paced contest with a lot of shots.

Just like Kentucky, Florida prioritizes attacking in transition. The best way to stop that is by scoring. So, in a way, Kentucky’s best defense against Florida is their offense. That means efficient movement, on and off the ball, and good shot selection.

When getting into halfcourt defense, Kentucky needs to be prepared for a lot of ball screens, an area they have been focusing on since the loss to Ohio State. “All of our guys were struggling to remember if there was anything involved in the game of basketball except for ball screen defense. We repped and repped and repped,” Pope said after the Brown win.

Offensive Rebounding Battle

Florida is the best rebounding team in the country by average. Statistically, Kentucky is, too, but there have been times they have lacked effort on the boards, most recently in the first half against Brown.

With Florida, it’s not just one player; it’s a balanced attack, with six players averaging more than five rebounds per game. All five Kentucky players on the floor will need to make the effort to box out and not look to leak out early.

Florida really excels on the offensive glass, rebounding 41% of their misses. That said, they give up nearly 10 offensive rebounds to their opponent per game, an area where Mark Pope prioritizes every game.

If the Cats can be in the net-positive with offensive rebounds, it would be huge for their chances to win.

Free Throws

Statistically, Florida’s biggest weakness is its free-throw shooting, which is 73.4% compared to Kentucky’s 73.8%.

Similar to Kentucky, the Gators have been inconsistent from the charity stripe, shooting nearly 82% on 33 attempts in one game this season to shooting 56% on 25 attempts in another.

All projections expect this to be a close game and taking advantage of FREE throws will always help your chances to win.

Opposing Players to Watch

G Walter Clayton Jr 6-3, 195 lbs

• 17.2 PPG (10th in SEC)
• 3.8 APG
• 37% 3P

G Will Richard 6-4, 206 lbs

• 14.2 PPG
• 5.0 RPG
• 2.2 SPG (8th in SEC)

F Alex Condon

• 11.2 PPG
• 7.5 RPG (10th in SEC)
• 1.5 BPG (8th in SEC)

Time: 11:00 AM ET on January 4th, 2024

Location: Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center in Lexington, Kentucky

TV Channel: ESPN

Online Stream: ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

Radio: Tom Leach and Jack Givens will have the call on the UK Sports Radio Network.

Replay: WatchESPN and ESPN network of channels (check local listings).

Rosters: UK | FLA

Stats to Know: UK | FLA

KenPom: UK | FLA

Team Sheet: UK | FLA

Odds: FanDuel Sportsbook does not yet have a spread, so check back later for that. EvanMiya gives Kentucky a 43.9% chance of winning, Bart Torvik is at 54%, KenPom is at 47%, and ESPN is at 58.8%.

Predictions: EvanMiya has Florida winning 82-77. Bart Torvik has the Cats winning an 83-82 thriller. Haslametrics is going with an 84-78 Florida victory. KenPom has the Gators winning 82-81. I’ll give the home team the edge in this one and predict an 85-83 victory, Kentucky!

How do you see this one going? Send us your Kentucky vs. Florida score predictions in the comments section!

Go CATS!!