COVINGTON, Ky. ‒ Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman announced Thursday a $110 million settlement with Cincinnati-based Kroger in his lawsuit against the grocer for its role in the opioid crisis.

Speaking at a press conference event at the Life Learning Center across the Ohio River from Cincinnati in Northern Kentucky, Coleman said Kroger fueled the opioid epidemic by prescribing the drugs with “shockingly” little oversight or means of reporting suspicious activity.

“(They) allowed the fire of addiction to spread,” Coleman said.

Kroger did not have an immediate response.

Why Kentucky sued Kroger

His office said the agreement is one of the largest opioid settlements in recent Kentucky history and ends one of his major lawsuits launched in 2024.

Last year, Coleman sued Kroger and pharmacy benefits managers Express Scripts and Optum Rx in separate lawsuits for their roles in Kentucky’s opioid epidemic.

Kroger is a $150 billion retailer with a pharmacy business that accounts for $14.3 billion of its annual revenues. Express Scripts is a subsidiary of Connecticutt-based health company Cigna Group. Optum is part of Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group.

Coleman, a Republican, took office last year after being elected in 2023.

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The Kentucky Wildcats took another tough loss on the road and now stand at 0-2 in true road games after falling to the Georgia Bulldogs, 82-69.

The Cats also struggled to score, managing only 69 points and seeing only three players in double figures after putting up 106 against a top-10 Florida team and having six players with 14 or more points. Kentucky also shot just 27% from 3-point range, making it hard to win in any venue for a team that relies so heavily on shooting from deep.

Georgia’s increased physicality added to Kentucky’s troubles, with foul trouble being a constant issue throughout the game for the Cats. They were outrebounded 43-34.

Despite being 3-0 against top-10 teams this season, Kentucky now has three unranked losses. They’ll have a chance to bounce back as they travel to No. 14 Mississippi State, aiming for their first road win of the season.

And here are the postgame notes via UK Athletics.

Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky is now 12-3, 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference. Georgia is 13-2 overall, 1-1 in league play.
• Kentucky leads the series 132-29, including 44-20 in Athens.
• Mark Pope is 199-111 as head coach, including 12-3 at Kentucky.
• Next for Kentucky: the Wildcats stay on the road Saturday at Mississippi State. Game time is 8:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. in Starkville) and it will be televised on the SEC Network.

Team Notes

• Kentucky made 15 of 19 free throws (78.9 percent), the fourth straight game the Wildcats have made at least 75 percent at the foul line.

Player Notes

• Lamont Butler led the Wildcats with 20 points, his eighth double-figure game of the season and second game with at least 20.
• He also had a season-high four steals, his third straight game with at least three thefts.
• Playing a season-high 27 minutes, Brandon Garrison had a season-high 13 points and collected five rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
• Otega Oweh had 12 points and has scored in double figures in every game this season. He also led UK in rebounds with seven, the first time this season he has paced the Wildcats in the boardwork.

In the First Half

• Kentucky’s starters were Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson, Otega Oweh, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams. UK has a 10-3 record with this lineup.
• Koby Brea and Travis Perry were the first substitutions at 16:18.
• Kentucky was ahead 23-19 but Georgia closed the half with a 28-11 run and took a 47-34 lead into the locker room. UK is 2-3 this season when trailing at halftime.

In the Second Half

• Kentucky began the second half with the starters.
• The Wildcats chipped away, cutting the margin to 55-50, coaxing a Georgia timeout at 12:02.
• Kentucky got no closer as Georgia held steady for the win.

A winter storm watch is in effect south of Louisville as National Weather Service forecasters anticipate more snow for Kentucky Friday, with higher amounts expected in the southern half of the state.

The watch, active until late Friday night, extends as far north as Hardin County and stretches into parts of southeastern and southwestern Kentucky. The weather service stated early Wednesday morning it expects to see 4-5 inches of snowfall Friday for counties in the watch area, with locally higher amounts possible.

In the Louisville metro area, 2-3 inches of new snowfall is possible. Current estimates show a 90% chance for at least inch of snow in Louisville Friday and a 10% chance for at least 4 inches. Evan Webb, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said 4 inches of snow looks like the “worst case scenario” for the city.

At least 4 inches of snow in the forecast is typically needed for the weather service to issue a winter storm watch or warning, Webb said, adding it appears to be “relatively likely” a winter storm warning will eventually be in effect for the area currently under the watch.

“If the trends in the data change, we could expand the winter storm watch a little further north if we need to,” Webb said.

Wednesday night and Thursday morning will be very cold in Louisville and there is a chance wind chills could plummet below zero, Webb said. However, cloud cover could serve as an “insulating blanket,” keeping the air temperature a little higher than it would be if it was a clear night.

If wind chills were to fall to -5 degrees or below, the NWS would issue a cold weather advisory.

“Prepare for round two, unfortunately,” Webb said. “It looks like the snow amounts will be quite a bit less than what we saw with the last storm. Certainly with some additional snow accumulations, it’s always good to be prepared.”

More: Will Louisville get more snow this week? NWS predicts more cold weather in Kentucky

Wednesday

Chance of flurries. Mostly cloudy and cold, with a high near 25. Calm winds from the west around 6 mph in the afternoon.

Wednesday Night

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 4. West winds of 5 mph become calm.

Thursday

Sunny and cold, with a high near 28.

Thursday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 14 and calm winds.

Friday

A 90% chance of snow showers, mainly after 1 p.m. A high near 29 with south winds of around 5 mph Friday afternoon. New snowfall amounts of between 1-2 inches is possible.

Friday Night

A 70% chance of snow showers, mainly before 1 a.m. Cloudy, with a low around 23.

Saturday

Mostly cloudy, with a high near 31.

Saturday Night

Mostly cloudy, with a low near 15.

Sunday

Partly sunny, with a high near 35.

Sunday Night

A 20% chance of snow showers after 1 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low near 27.

Reporter Marina Johnson contributed.

Reach reporter Leo Bertucci at lbertucci@gannett.com or @leober2chee on X, formerly known as Twitter