WQXE NEWS

Daniel O’Dell says the most important part of documenting the journey of he and his service dog The Fluffy Poodle has been the ability to reach out to the community.

“We’ve been lucky enough to share our story for five-plus years to the military and disability community and everybody all around the world, to give them hope and let them know no matter what you’ve been through in the past, you can still follow your dreams,” O’Dell said.

O’Dell and The Fluffy Poodle’s work is receiving some special recognition, as the two are featured in the spring issue of U.S. Veterans MagazineM honoring the Service Dogs of the Year.

“When we got that announcement, I definitely shed a tear, because it’s an overwhelming feeling,” O’Dell. “We got that thank you that we really deserve, and just being a guiding light for the military community is ultimately what it’s all about.”

O’Dell says the recognition is motivation to continue spreading the message.

“I tell everybody, no matter what you’re going through in the past, or no matter what you’re going through now or in the past, you can still follow your dreams, because if I can get through my challenges and disability with my service dog, The Fluffy Poodle, I know you can too, so ultimately we just give a little bit of hope and tell our story to inspire everybody all around the world,” O’Dell said.

If you get a copy of U.S. Veterans Magazine’s spring issue, turn to page 46. You can follow O’Dell and The Fluffy Poodle by searching for The Fluffy Poodle on social media.

BlueOval SK External Communications representative Mallory Cooke says the company is excited to get things underway in Glendale.

“2,500 jobs at capacity at each plant, battery production on schedule to begin this year,” Cooke said. “We are very excited about that, and as someone who’s been with the company since 2022, this is a big deal, so we’re very excited to begin production later this year.”

Cooke and other representatives from the company spoke to participants during a Lunch and Learn event hosted by the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce at the Elizabethtown Police Department Monday. Cooke said the event was an opportunity to provide an update on the Glendale Battery Park and to discuss some misconceptions.

“You hear a lot of people, they may say BlueOval or SK, or the Ford plant,” Cooke said. “We are not Ford. We are not BlueOval. We are not SK. We are BlueOval SK. If you’ll make sure you share those names together, both of our parent companies are very important, and as (External Affairs Director) Keli (McAlister) likes to say, we’re like a Southerner with a good double name, BlueOval SK.”

Carl Swope with the Swope Family of Dealerships discussed increased reliability in electric vehicles, including longer ranges and easier charging opportunities. Cooke said the Kentucky Two plant is still delayed based on consumer demand, but the EV market has seen growth.

“EV and hybrid sales reached 20 percent of U.S. vehicle sales in 2024 for the first time ever,” Cooke said. “That’s great. We know that EV sales continue to rise, not at the amount that they initially predicted, but EV sales are still on the rise.”

Cooke said batteries built at BlueOval SK should outlast the life of the cars they are in, with lifespans of 500,000 to 700,000 miles.