♪ >> And now we'll have to see how quickly some of these businesses move.

I think they have every incentive to move quickly.

>> It's the luck of the draw for Kentucky's first medical cannabis retailers.

>> I'm Laura Rogers and we're bringing into focus what you need to know about renewing your driver's license.

>> And while it's about food distribution, it's so much bigger than that.

The program that's taking a bite out of hunger for thousands of Kentucky families this Thanksgiving.

>> When I was contacted about the original painting of a St. Louis Saint, I really didn't believe it.

>> And learn more about the recently discovered painting by one of Kentucky's most renowned artist.

>> Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in part by the KET Millennium Fund.

♪ ♪ Good Evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition.

It is Monday November, the 25th hope you had a great weekend and thank you for kicking off your Monday night with us.

>> The winners of Kentucky's first medical cannabis dispensary lottery were drawn today.

The Kentucky Lottery conducted the randomized wrong.

It decided who can open the first.

36 retail operations and some of Kentucky's more rule counties.

>> Because our program is rooted in patient access is critical that our cannabis business licensing framework ensures the new industry is stable and sustainable with an emphasis on small business and provides product growth to me.

Cardholder demand.

For this reason.

Our initial license availability for each business category was 10 tier-one cultivators for tier 2 cultivators 2 tier 3 call debaters.

10 processors.

And 48 dispensaries a few weeks ago, as the governor mentioned, the 26 cultivator processor licenses were selected in our first lottery process.

And those businesses are now fully licensed.

Well, I'm feeling good that we are now through all.

But the last lottery.

>> And we've already gotten all the processes.

All the cultivators and 4 of the lab's licensed.

That's a big deal when previously weren't going to be a to even start that process until January one.

So I think given what the law was, we've worked pretty fast up to now.

Now we'll have to see how quickly some of these businesses move.

I think they have every incentive to move quickly, but I'm gonna KET the executive order in place that provides protection from prosecution.

For those with these conditions.

Again, until we've got the program up and running and then I will re send it.

And I just add on to what Sam said, we promised to do this safely and we promised to do it in a smart way.

We can always expand dispensaries.

But what we saw with hemp with all the licenses that went out is a crash.

The market having too many individuals that were out there licensed in the very beginning.

So we think that we've got it generally right.

But we also know that it's a lot easier to build if the demand is bigger, then the contract and to and to have those that are part of our first launch struggle.

>> Governor Beshear says as the state gauges demand, he hopes lawmakers will consider expanding the list of qualifying elements.

The dispensary selected today will serve region's 3 through 11.

Same right here on this map.

Another drawing set for December.

The 16th will decide who gets to open dispensaries in Jefferson, Fayette and some of their surrounding counties.

Onto another measure.

This one affecting Kentucky drivers and 2021 state lawmakers passed legislation they hope will improve highway safety as our Laura Rodgers explains, it goes into effect.

The first of the year.

Come January.

First, when you go to renew your driver's license in Kentucky, there's one more step you must complete before doing so.

>> You'll either need to take paperwork from your eye care provider or do a quick screening at a driver licensing regional office to make sure your eyesight is safe for driving.

>> As the only time you took a official screening when you got your driver's license or 16 years old.

>> But that's about to change as soon.

It won't just be new drivers tested on their vision.

Safe drivers.

See clearly Kentucky will soon join several other states in having a vision screening requirements before you can renew your driver's license.

It's a great idea.

Optometrist doctor Alex Competencies about 30 to 40 patients a day at his Franklin practice.

You would be surprised that the brain can hide.

He says people often don't realize their eyesight is failing until they complete an example for his poor clearance.

Oftentimes vision loss is very slow, very progressive.

>> A national research shows that drivers with visual field loss in both eyes.

84% more likely to be involved in.

>> Officials hope this new requirement will make our highways safer.

AAA says more than 800 people lost their lives on Kentucky roads last year.

A few things are more important that safe driving with good eyesight.

We assess their field recess.

They're cutie.

>> Color vision.

>> And we tell them, you know, hey, according the standard you may or may not be legal or safe to operate a motor vehicle.

>> Dr Compton says an added benefit may be catching diseases of the eye like glaucoma before it's too late for treatment to patients far better.

>> If we find it before symptoms appear and then we can prevent vision loss going forward.

We believe that vision is one of the most important factors when being behind the wheel of a car.

>> The Kentucky Optometric Association has advised the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet on how to best rollout.

The measure.

>> We go to Europe.

Tom, Trust ophthalmologist or certified vision screener, you can actually have a form feel about where you can skip the screening portion of the driver's vision renewal.

>> You'll need to do that within 12 months of renewing your license.

This is about highway safety and keeping contestants.

>> Now, if you opt for the screening at a driver licensing regional office.

Little only take about a minute to complete with no additional costs or appointments.

If you fail that screening, you'll be referred to a vision specialist for corrective measures before you can get back behind the wheel for Kentucky edition.

I'm Laura Rogers.

Thank you so much, Laura.

Many other states including our neighbors in Indiana, Ohio and Missouri already have mandatory vision screenings to renew a driver's license.

>> Now turning to politics, U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell is carbon out a new role for himself.

The Kentucky Republican will chair the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on defense.

The move is fitting for McConnell who has repeatedly warned that America needs to bulk up its military to deter threats from countries such as Russia.

Iran and China.

The transition comes as McConnell is ending his role as the longest-serving Senate leader and history.

There was a lot of speculation about what McConnell would do next.

The 82 year-old has 2 years left in his current Senate term and has not signaled yet whether he will run for reelection in 2026.

Meanwhile, his congressional colleagues says he won't back President-elect Donald Trump's plan to use the military to round up undocumented immigrants.

U.S.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky made the comment yesterday on CBS's Face The Nation.

But he was clear to point out his support for removing people who enter the country illegally.

>> Is this is a red line for you in terms of using the military, would you vote no on the DHS secretary Christy Nome.

>> I will not support and will not bow to use the military in our cities.

I think it's a terrible image.

But I will tell you, but just in the last week with the believes that a new administration will change things, there are 4 or 5 criminals arrested in the in the last week and what would happen and I think what will happen under Donald Trump's administration is I don't recommend using Army, but I would use the FBI.

I would use eyes of a new border patrol and they have a list.

Now 15,000.

I don't care of a game in over 40 years or 10 years.

If you've got a list, you put these people all points bulletin.

These are the kind of people that are dangerous and that everybody needs and the watch on and they would go out and seek those people that we have about 30,000 very dangerous people already convicted of crimes.

That should be the first priority for all.

Does this go find those people?

But it's not about detaining them.

In all likelihood they should be going to a jail either jail here in the country they came from.

So I think if we did that to be a lot of unity, if they send the army into New York and you have 10,000 troops marching carrying semiautomatic weapons.

I think it's a terrible image and I will oppose that.

But it's not that I oppose removing people.

I just write object to what has been against the law for over 100 years and is using the Army.

>> Senator Paul also said he is not in favor of tariffs, which he called a tax on consumers.

But Paul said he's not sure if that was enough for him to oppose president elect Trump's pro tariff nomination of Scott descent to the next Treasury secretary.

A programming note for tonight.

National and state politics are our focus on Kentucky tonight this evening.

Our panel will discuss the aftermath of the 2024 election and Kentuckyian across America.

President elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks as well as leadership changes in our Kentucky General Assembly and the priority issues.

Lawmakers could address in the upcoming 30 day session.

Join us for that conversation tonight at 8 Eastern 7 central right here on KET.

A former Kentucky sheriff charged with murder was back in the same Letcher County courthouse where he's accused of killing a district judge.

A not guilty plea was entered on behalf of Shawn Mickey Stein's today.

Video of Stein's shooting Judge Kevin Mullins was played at a court hearing last month.

The judge presiding over today's case declined to set a bond amount for Stein's meaning he will remain in jail in another county.

Police have given no motive for the shooting.

The lawyer representing Stein's told the Lexington Herald-Leader that a deposition Stein's gave in a separate federal case days before that shooting would play a critical role and his defense.

Laurent Day is the new mayor of Versailles.

The Woodford Sun reports Day was sworn in this morning.

She was appointed by Governor Andy Beshear following the resignation Bryant or ago who left last month to join the Kentucky League of Cities Dake who was a Versailles City council member will serve out the remaining 2 years of tried its term in a Facebook post, Drake said she was, quote, honored and humbled by the news.

More and more students are enrolling in Kentucky's public universities.

The Kentucky Council on post-secondary education says undergraduate enrollment for the fall 2024 semester was up by almost 4% community and technical colleges are seeing greater and moment, which was up by nearly 5%, according to cpe enrollment for non-traditional adult students was also up 8% after several years of declines.

And a sad note tonight, Chuck Woolery, the smooth-talking game show host of Wheel of Fortune Love Connection and Scrabble has died.

Born in Ashland, Kentucky will re served in the U.S. Navy before attending college.

He was also a musician and form the psychedelic rock duo, the avant-garde and 1967, while working as a truck driver to pay the bills and 2014, he began co-hosting a right Wing podcast, calling himself a gun rights activist, conservative libertarian and a constitutional list.

He died over the weekend at his home in Texas, Mr. Chuck Woolery was 83 years old.

Having on that, they will do it.

♪ ♪ >> In the thousands of Kentucky, families in need will sit down to a Thanksgiving meal.

They otherwise wouldn't have thanks to a program through God's Pantry.

Foodbank volunteers began handing out Thanksgiving meal boxes today with all the essentials for a holiday feast.

>> So today is our 31st.

Annual sharing Thanksgiving distribution.

It's got a traditional meal, a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

There's turkey, they're stuffing those potatoes.

There's a there's butter theirs.

I pledge about Brownie mix all of the fixings to have a full Thanksgiving meal.

>> We're a household with a month.

>> Over the course of the last 3 weeks, including today and tomorrow we will have nearly 1000 volunteers helping us sort helping us pack and then helping us distribute these Thanksgiving meals.

So starting last September, we began getting referrals and pretty registrations for these 8,500 households.

And then everyone has a specific time where they get distribution.

And that includes distributions that we're doing in Floyd County that we've done in Moore County that they're doing in Raleigh County.

Across central and eastern Kentucky.

One in 6 people experience food insecurity, including one in 4 children.

This year we're doing 8,500 sharing Thanksgiving distributions.

That's 8,500 households.

And that's about a 15% increase over what we've done before.

We're seeing increased demands across central and eastern Kentucky for emergency food assistance.

>> We see the the the need.

We know how how would this up is now?

>> In it everything is gay is going to expensive and we have to we have to help.

We help to this to something.

So we cannot do this without community support.

>> And the community helps us understand where food insecurity is in the neighborhood, how to reach out to those who are experiencing hunger and how to connect with those people who need nourishment to thrive.

>> Helping them because they helped they helped us and trying to reach more people them joint injuries.

The poor.

And that's that's why we are here for so what we hear from volunteers, what we hear from neighbors who are experiencing hunger all the time.

Is the importance of having a meal to be able to gather around a table and have conversations with loved ones.

>> And whether it's a volunteer, whether it's a neighbor engaging with community and helping people thrive.

It's such an important part of the work that we do.

And while it's about food distribution, it's so much bigger than that.

It's really about helping people with pathways forward to be successful in life.

>> How again reminds people that hunger is a year-round problem.

He says anyone in need of food assistance in central or eastern Kentucky can go online to God's pantry, dot org to find a food pantry near them.

You can also find volunteer opportunities online there as well.

Kentucky fans, you crushed it.

The annual Big Blue Crush Blood Drive wrapped up on Friday and Kentucky had more donors than Tennessee for every single day of the drive.

More than 2400 fans donated in Kentucky last week making it Kentucky blood centers, highest turnout for the event since 2019.

But the real winners are patients in Kentuckyian Tennessee.

Whole made the lifesaving blood in the coming days and weeks.

If you missed out on the friendly competition, it is never too late to help to save a life.

You can schedule an appointment at one of Kentucky blood centers, a donor centers online at K Why Blood Center DOT Org.

♪ ♪ ♪ And are No.

Tonight Paul saw here was one of Kentucky's most renowned painters over the course of his career.

He painted hundreds of scenes in our state from Elkhorn Creek to the streets of the capital.

The new painting of his was recently discovered over 300 miles away in Missouri music Hall.

St. Louis was auctioned off this weekend and we spoke to the president of Paul.

So you're galleries to find out what makes this discovery unique.

>> Paul Sawyer was that he lived from 18 65 to 1917.

He came from a family primarily here in the Frankfort area.

The Sawyer Wingate family.

We had our work in the Chicago 18.

94 exhibit.

That's when he realized from the French impressionist that he wanted to concentrate on doing water colors and eventually oils of local scenes and creeks.

And that's where he started painting any they see in his 30 year career.

Good over 1000 paintings.

He did that here in Frankfort.

They needed on the Kentucky River around Camp Nelson and eventually in the New York City and Catskills.

When I was contacted about the original painting of a St. Louis Saint, I really didn't believe it because I was unaware of any scene outside of Kentucky or New York.

That's all you're ever created.

My understanding from the auction house is that a past President Monsanto had bought a farm in the boot heel of Missouri.

And that this painting was in that home or on that farm where it was that the 3rd generation now owns the painting.

And I think the way the painting it up there was that he attended the for St. Louis world's fair him paintings in the exhibit there.

And that he was probably walking in the street like you did in Frankfort.

He's known for taking COVID photographs.

The scenes he happened to KET do that.

Yeah.

Created the work.

And my guess is he probably gave it to someone there.

And it is just remain that way.

It was probably created.

Then over 120 years ago.

I don't think there's too many artists that have done well over 1000 pieces of art.

When I recorded every piece of song or work that I could find or KET about 5 years ago, I have come up with 50 more sense than that.

I did not know existed.

>> Because what happens is they get passed down through the family.

That's where normally I find them.

Is that they're selling in a state.

So I'm kind of excited to see what show up.

I think that what's all year has done is that he is brought to life the way people lived.

Back at the turn of the century and that weather is walking down the street.

Including the old or new capital.

When you walk down the street and Frankfort, for example, or your canoeing on the K L current creek of the Kentucky River.

You are actually seeing the same scenes Sawyer did.

So you're actually able to connect in Community street, creeks and river where you actually live.

So when Kentucky is look at Sawyer's work, they realize this is where they live and the beauty of our state.

>> And his depictions are beautiful as well.

Music Hall, St. Louis was sold on Saturday for nearly $44,000.

Kentucky rapper Jack Harlow is teaming up with the Louisville Orchestra for a first of its kind show later this month.

The internationally known rapper from Louisville is collaborating with Orchestra director Teddy Abrams to create re.

Imagine compositions of some of Harlow's, most popular songs.

>> So this is a be spoke show.

This is not something where people might expect just to see their favorite artists saying all their best known songs and the orchestra just play some backup music that that's what you get a lot of times that at collaboration is with orchestras.

>> That's fine.

That's that's nice.

But that's not super innovative and creative.

We want to do something totally different.

We wanted to actually build a custom suite of music that weaves Jax catalog N and uses the orchestra as the sound itself of the show.

The orchestra is not backing up.

Tracks are backing up a band that's playing with Jack.

They were just what is the band.

So this was custom made with new sounds to create a world for Jack to the solo and saying in front of.

So this is really special because it's again, not just a list of a few songs of the orchestra is playing chords along with, but this is actually the orchestra collaborating in full with Jack.

So even if you've seen every one of tax hometown shows before this is going to be something entirely different.

>> Well, this is must-see.

No place like home 2024.

Jack Harlow and the Louisville Orchestra happens at the concert Kentucky Center on November.

29th and 30th proceeds benefit the Louisville Orchestra.

The Jack Harlow Foundation has distributed more than a half a million dollars to local arts organizations and the Derby city.

♪ ♪ We it's sometimes referred to as Kentucky's oldest continually operating business soon.

>> The Valleyview ferry will be out of commission for repairs.

The ferry carries traffic between Fayette and Madison counties over the Kentucky River.

It was founded in the late 17, 100's more than a decade before Kentucky was admitted to the union and 17 92 officials say ferry service will shut down on Saturday.

The barge will be dry dock.

So the U.S. Coast Guard can inspect it and make routine repair so it can be safe.

Crews helped the ferry will be back in business and one to 2 months.

To Kentucky programs of celebrating huge wins on the court.

The University of Kentucky volleyball team clinched the SEC Championship yesterday after sweeping Arkansas 3 to 0.

The 12th ranked Cats wrap-up.

SEC play Wednesday but have already secured the program's 8th straight SEC title and the Western Kentucky University volleyball team is guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

The Hilltoppers beat the New Mexico State Aggies yesterday to win the conference USA Tournament championship for a second year in a row.

They've been at Red towel.

Well, we have basketball a bridge, a fire at the state Capitol and the birth of a fiery anti liquor crusader.

Our 2 big ifs has that breakdown.

And this look at this week in Kentucky history.

♪ >> A Kentucky Capitol building burned down November 25th 18, 13, another capital was built on the same site and also burned down.

>> Anti alcohol crusader Carrie Nation was born in Garrett County on November.

25th 18.

46.

She would later moved to Kansas and fight to close down saloons often with a hatchet.

A bridge that's been in the news many times in recent years.

Northern Kentucky's Brent Spence Bridge Open November, 25th 1963.

It was named after a long time.

Northern Kentucky Congressman.

climates resigned as governor on November.

27th 1950, in order to become a United States.

Senator Lieutenant Governor large Weatherby that took the oath of office as Kentucky's 47 governor.

Happy birthday to George Washington.

Buckner warning Greensburg on December.

First 18.

55.

It was a doctor and diplomat who would eventually serve as the U.S. ambassador to Liberia from 1913, to 1915.

Joby Hall coach of the University of Kentucky men's basketball team was born November 20 at 1928, in said the Anna even coached the Wildcats from 1972.

To 1980, >> coach calls Wildcats won their first game in Lexington's Rupp Arena on November.

27th 1976.

The number 6 Wildcats beat Wisconsin.

72 to 64.

That's more than 23,000 people.

Look dog Rupp Arena ran out of hot dogs by halftime.

And that's a look back at this week in Kentucky history.

I'm Joe begins.

>> Thank you as always.

To be Gibbs.

Coming up tomorrow on Kentucky Edition why people in nearly 2 dozen central Kentucky communities are being asked to hoard their recycling.

>> We put a lot of money into it.

And at this point that Baylor, some of the parts are becoming obsolete.

It's really critical that we go ahead and replace it before.

We just can't replace those parts.

And one.

>> A close-up look at the impact.

The temporary closing of Lexington's Recycling plant is having on the region.

That story and many more tomorrow on Kentucky EDITION, which we hope will see you again at 6.30, Eastern 5.30, central where we inform connect and inspire.

You can connect with us all the ways you see on your screen.

Facebook X, an Instagram post and the loop on all the programming here at KET.

And you're welcome to send us a story idea to public affairs at KET Dot Org.

Thank you so very much for watching.

I'm Renee Shaw until I see you again.

Take really good care.

So long.

♪