It’s finally here, BBN. The Kentucky Wildcats and Duke Blue Devils are set to face off in the 2024 Champions Classic.

Game time is set for approximately 9 PM ET on ESPN following Kansas vs. Michigan State, which tips off at 6:30. You can watch the game online using ESPN+ or listen on the radio via the UK Sports Network.

This is it. This is the game everyone’s been waiting for, and it’s finally happening tonight in Catlanta.

Will the Cats be able to topple the sixth-ranked Blue Devils, or will Duke continue to control this series since that 1998 Elite Eight comeback?

We’ll find out soon enough!

Pregame Reading

Go CATS!

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WSAZ) – Voters in dozens of cities and counties across Kentucky voted in favor in November to allow medical cannabis businesses to operate in their communities.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said there’s been “an overwhelming support” behind medical cannabis.

The statewide program will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, according to the Office of Kentucky Medical Cannabis.

The issue passed in all 53 counties, and 53 cities that had medical cannabis local questions on the ballots allowed those businesses to operate in their areas, Beshear said.

In a team Kentucky briefing, Gov. Beshear said,” We saw overwhelming support at the polls for our new system of medical cannabis … meaning every citizen in every part of Kentucky that it is time and they want to see the option in their community.”

Counties that take no action via ordinance and ballot initiative are automatically opted in to allow medical marijuana businesses, as are cities in such counties, according to the Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis.

Beshear signed medical cannabis use into law for people who have certain medical conditions in 2023.

The window to apply for a medical cannabis business license was July 1 through Aug. 31. During that time, the Office of Medical Cannabis received 4,998 applications, of which 918 were cultivator and processor applicants.

In Boyd County, L&O Legacies, a tier I cultivator, and Bijal Kentucky LLC., a processor, were amongst the 26 applicants selected through a lottery basis in October for medical cannabis business licenses. Click here

The available categories included 10 Tier I cultivator licenses, four Tier II cultivator licenses, two Tier III cultivator licenses, and 10 processor licenses.

A total of 48 dispensaries will be awarded licenses in late November and December through a lottery drawing basis.

Each county will get one dispensary except Jefferson and Fayette, which will get two each.

To qualify for a medical cannabis card starting Jan. 1, 2025, the holder must have a qualifying medical condition, which includes any type or form of cancer regardless of the stage; chronic, severe, intractable, or debilitating pain; epilepsy or any other intractable seizure disorder; multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms or spasticity; chronic nausea or cyclical vomiting syndrome that has proven resistant to other conventional medical treatments; and post-traumatic stress disorder. For more information visit, kymedcan.ky.gov.

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KENTON COUNTY, Ky. — In a strong show of support, 106 Kentucky cities and counties voted to allow medical cannabis businesses to operate where they live during this November’s election.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear made the announcement during a Nov. 7 Team Kentucky update.

The list includes 10 Northern Kentucky cities: Alexandria, Bellevue, Crestview Hills, Elsmere, Florence, Independence, Ludlow, Southgate, Union and Wilder.

“This signals what we have known for a long time, which is that the jury is no longer out on medical cannabis,” Beshear said. “Kentuckians want their families, friends and neighbors who have serious medical conditions like cancer, multiple sclerosis or PTSD to have safe and affordable access.”

The ample demand for medical marijuana business is met with a low supply of operating licenses, Bellevue Mayor Charlie Cleves said.

“I mean, we are a tiny little piece of this great big puzzle,” Cleves said. “The odds are against us getting it. We’re so tiny and we had so few applications compared to cities like Covington [and] Newport.”

Cleves said voters in his city approved the ballot measure by about three-to-one.

“I was surprised at the amount it passed in Bellevue,” he said. “Some of the residents that I speak to are dead bang against it … a lot of the younger people think of it as a good thing. So I just tell them whatever happens, happens.”

A state-run lottery for processor and cultivator licenses has already taken place, with zero licenses issued to businesses in Boone, Kenton or Campbell counties. Kentucky has two more lotteries scheduled this year to deal out dispensary licenses.

The first dispensary lottery, scheduled for Nov. 25, will draw license winners in nine of Kentucky’s 11 medicinal cannabis regions, including the Northern Kentucky region.

Each region will be awarded four licenses, with a limit of one dispensary license per county.

The Northern Kentucky region is comprised of the following counties: Boone, Bracken, Campbell, Carroll, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, Owen and Pendleton.

That means out of 395 businesses that applied in the Northern Kentucky region, only four will receive licenses.

Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis

The second lottery will take place on Dec. 16 for Louisville, the Kentuckiana Region, and Lexington, the Bluegrass Region. Due to their size, the counties located within the regions, Jefferson and Fayette counties, will receive an additional two licenses each.

Before medical marijuana operations commence, cities are responsible for creating zoning regulations to make way for (or not allow) those types of businesses to run.

“I think it’s a long shot we’re going to get a business,” Independence Mayor Chris Reinersman said. “We are neither advocating nor trying to deter businesses.”

Reinersman said zoning changes are already in the works, thanks to a “model ordinance” drafted by the Planning and Development Services of Kenton County.

He said the Independence City Council will hold a second reading of the ordinance during its Monday meeting.

“Assuming it passes, we’ll have the zoning in place Jan. 1,” he said.

Reinersman said Independence will review its employment policies too.

“For our 50-plus city employees — particularly, we have police officers and that’s a concern there — we want to make sure we have those bases covered,” he said. “We’re working with other cities and the Kentucky League of Cities [on that].”

According to the Office Of Medical Cannabis, those who apply for a medical marijuana card must be a Kentucky resident, have no disqualifying felony offenses and be diagnosed with at least one of the following medical conditions:

• ​Any type or form of cancer;
• Chronic or severe pain;
• Epilepsy or other intractable seizure disorder;
• Multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms or spasticity;
• Chronic nausea or cyclical vomiting syndrome and;
• Post-traumatic stress disorder.

Kentucky will begin accepting applications for cards on Jan. 1, 2025. Before applying, those seeking a card must get a “written certification for medical cannabis from an authorized medical practitioner,” according to the Office Of Medical Cannabis.