Gains (Continued from page 1-B)

Search (Continued from page 1-B)

FUNdraiserset for Snow

Camptheatre

NW grad Dubois finishes up Air Force basic training Air Force Airman Joshua A. Dubois graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare prin-ciples and skills. Airmen who complete basic training earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force. Dubois, a graduate of Northwood High School is the son of Robin Dubeau of Pittsboro, and Michael Dubois of Warren, R.I.

man remains detection Type III. In December, Semenov and Sax will travel to Florida to test

for North American Police Working Dog Association HRD certification.

“Well, it’s not something that everyone can do. If you don’tlike training, this isn’t something you should pursue. You have to keep sharp. You have to train a couple of times a week, and of course keep your certifications current. You also kind of have to have a flexible schedule,” Semenov said.

NCCERT HRD dogs like Sax are trained on water as well as land, able to locate drowning victims at various depths.

“The boats we go out on may or may not have sonar, Dogs can pick up the scent sometimes before the sonar can see the victim. When that works, it’s wonderful. It saves resources and promotes diver safety, Semenov said.

Despite traveling across the country on search missions, Semenov holds down a full-time job. All of her work with NC C.E.R.T. is volunteer. All travel expenses are paid for by her.

“The state or requesting agency doesn’t pay NCCERT or me to do this. All costs are my own. I don’t get paid to do this,” Semenov said. .

“When working an HRD dog, it is not a typical situation. They’re all different. Sax and I work current and cold cases. The cold cases can usually be scheduled so we don’t have to miss work. Typically, law enforcement will get new infor-mation on the case and have new areas to search. Semenov said.

The financial and, sometimes emotional toll of searching for missing persons comes with a bigger picture benefit.

“A lot of the time, the family is so grateful that someone is still searching. I don’t like word closure, but I think it allows the them to go on to the next phase,” Semenov said.

Semenov pauses before finishing her thought. “It’s about victim loyalty. That person is gone, but you can

help. It’s about giving back,” Semenov said. “What I do, what the dog does, is just one piece of the big-

ger picture. We’re just there to serve and assist LE and other requesting agencies,” Semenov said.

“My passion for searching only increases with time. I meet new people. I enjoy the travel. I’m in it for the long haul,”Semenov said.

In Siler City, North Glen Apartments will rehabilitate 32 units.

All of the apartments are affordable at 60 percent of median income, and many are affordable at 50 percent or 40 percent of median due to the additional financing. For a family of four, this ranges from $47,940 (60 percent in Wake County) to $20,960 (40 percent in low-wealth counties, such as Vance or Wilkes). The state’s Key Program operating assistance makes apartments affordable for persons with disabilities liv-ing on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) of approximately $660 a month.

The N.C. Housing Finance Agency evaluates the tax credit applications on behalf of the Tax Reform Allocation Committee, which consists of Secretary of Commerce J. Keith Crisco, State Treasurer Janet Cowell and State Budget Director Andy Willis. The evaluation includes independent market studies of each property and site visits by agency staff. Each property is rated for architectural design, rent af-fordability, financial stability, capability of the development team, and criteria to ensure statewide distribution of the fi-nancing.

The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency is a self-sup-porting public agency. It has financed 206,000 homes and apartments in the last three decades, including nearly 83,000 homes for first-time home buyers. To learn more, go to www.nchfa.com or call 919-877-5700 or 800-393-0988.

A second chance . . .Omri, who received a second chance at life in March and now faces a much brighter future, is shown with new owner Susan Redmond.

Horse survives and gets a second chance in Chatham

The Snow Camp Outdoor Theatre is set to pres-ent the 2012 After-Season FUNdraiser on Sep. 15,

The festival will showcase music, storytelling and good times for all comers.

The event will take place at Snow Camp’s Wilson Outdoor Theatre at 301 Drama Road.

In the event of rain, the events will be moved to the Shoffner Building on the the-atre grounds.

On Sept. 15, Mike Lowe will be in town to share sto-ries, laughs, legends and more.

“From his log house on Stewart’s Creek in Mount Airy, Mike travels the South as a singer/songwriter and storyteller,” according to a press release. “His material comes from personal expe-riences, old legends and the stories and storytellers he lis-tened to in his youth.”

Tickets for the event will run $10 for adults and $5 for children 16 and under.

All proceeds will go toward maintaining and improving the Snow Camp Outdoor Theatre’s grounds, buildings and historical site.

As for concessions, Ye Old Country Kitchen will be open for the public’s dining plea-sure.

For more information, con-tact the Snow Camp Drama Society by phone at (800) 726-5115 or by e-mail at SnowCampDrama@aol .com.

Demonstrating technique . . .Central Carolina Community College Medical Assisting instruc-tor Joyce Thomas (right) demonstrates the proper technique for filling a syringe to students at the Chatham County Campus. Medical Assisting is a growing field, expected to increase by 30 per cent through 2014. Medical Assistants are multi-skilled health professionals trained in both clerical and clinical work.

By Hilary Brooke HallCentral Carolina

Community CollegeSANFORD – A little bit of

everything – that seems an apt description of what Central Carolina Community College Medical Assisting program

graduates are qualified to do when they enter the workplace.

CCCC Medical Assisting lead instructor Melissa Fogarty said, “When students ask me what Medical Assistants do, I say we can do everything in the doctor’s office except for be the doctor. We become the doctors’ right-

hand man. Anything they need and want us to do, we do.”

Indeed, the duties of Medical Assistants (M.A.s) are many and multi-skilled and include clini-cal skills, lab procedures, and administrative office manage-ment duties.

“Medical Assistants offer a unique perspective on patient care and customer service and have the unique opportunity to exercise both their medical skills and business acumen,” said Jon Matthews, dean of University Transfer, Health Sciences and Developmental Education at CCCC. “This type of cross-training and flexibility makes them a valuable element of the physician’s practice.”

Since M.A.s are trained in both clerical and clinical work, they are able not only to schedule ap-pointments, process payments, and file insurance claims but also to administer shots, draw blood, test samples, and assist with procedures. In certain of-fice settings, M.A.s can even be cross-trained in x-ray technol-ogy.

Other responsibilities of M.A.s include billing, collections, medical transcription, medical examinations, electrocardiol-ogy, administering medication, operating medical equipment,

and discussing disease processes and pharmacology.

Fogarty noted that, “all that is done in the doctor’s office is done under the direction and di-rect supervision of a physician.”

Medical Assisting is one of the fastest growing fields in the country, and Medical Assisting graduates are in high demand. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics for Occupational Employment published in May 2010, the demand for M.A.s is expected to increase by 30 per-cent through 2014.

Certified Medical Assistants are qualified for jobs as medical assistants as well as medical of-fice assistants, clinical special-ists, and insurance specialists, among others. Starting salaries for M.A.s range from $10-$19 an hour, depending on the area.

All of the 16 CCCC M.A. graduates for 2012 already had jobs in place before graduation. The college’s M.A. program boasts a 75 percent hire rate for graduates, both from jobs re-ceived from clinical externships and those obtained from appli-cation processes.

The CCCC M.A. program also boasts an impressive 100 per-cent pass rate of the Certified Medical Assisting exam offered

by the American Association of Medical Assistants.

Fogarty said that she is “100 percent confident in the skills” of CCCC M.A. graduates.

“When I graduate students, I want to know these students are trained well enough to work on my mother, my children, and myself,” she says.

Fogarty is herself a CCCC M.A. graduate—as are the oth-er two M.A. instructors, Joyce Thomas on the Chatham campus and Anne Davis-Johnson on the Harnett campus.

Fogarty states that the M.A. program has a commitment to excellence, a commitment that all three instructors are pledged to, both professionally and per-sonally.

“Anne, Joyce, and I are very passionate about Medical Assisting and very passionate about training good Medical Assistants because we do not want to put people out there who will tarnish our reputation, not just as instructors but as colleagues in a field of study,” Fogarty explained.

She said that she, Davis-Johnson, and Thomas all chose Medical Assisting because it fit their lifestyles: “Medical Assisting gave us the opportu-

nity to get trained, get a good job, and still be able to raise our own children.”

Matthews said that Medical Assisting is one of a few allied health fields in which a graduate can expect to find employment that offers a family-friendly, daytime schedule.

“It’s a win-win for our stu-dents and for the physicians who employ them,” he said.

CCCC Medical Assisting classes follow a two-year track for an Associate of Applied Science and a one-year track for a diploma. The A.A.S. pro-gram is a five-semester plan of 71 total credit hours. The one-year diploma track consists of 46 credit hours and follows the same course schedule as the first year of the A.A.S. program.

Courses for the first year are offered seated on all three cam-puses, Chatham, Harnett, and Lee. Second-year courses are offered online or hybrid at the Lee Campus.

For more information about CCCC’s associate degree in Medical Assisting, visit http://cccc.edu/curriculum/majors/medicalassisting/.

CCCC med. assisting grads in high demand

By Cody JeffreyWith a barbed wire tangled

tail, pancake hooves, and an un-fortunate history, the 5-year-old horse, a Belgian-Paint cross, was bound for the Canadian border: the epicenter of horse slaughter.

The horse, later named Omri, was given a second chance in early March when a warm-hearted horsewoman demand-ed that 30 horses be unloaded from a trailer so she could take him home.

From that day on, Omri’s life would change for the better.

In 2007, the United States federal government stopped funding horse meat production, effectively shutting down the industry without creating an outright ban of horse slaughter.

This legislation has seemed to hurt, more than help, horses bound for slaughter. Instead of traveling 20 to 50 miles to the nearest slaughter house, doz-ens of horses are being over-loaded onto tractor trailers that will travel hundreds of miles to reach the Canadian border.

Omri was one such horse, but one that was lucky enough to have an angel waiting for him before the truck pulled out of the stockyard lot.

Upon arriving back in North Carolina, the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, contacted father-and-daughter local trainers, Emily and Jimmy Thomas at the Bar T Ranch in Pittsboro, to train Omri through natural horsemanship methods and find him a loving home.

The Thomas family has been training horses at the Bar T Ranch for almost 10 years. In that time span, Mr. Thomas has

worked with world-renowned equine clinicians including Craig Cameron and Clinton Anderson.

For several years, the Thomas family has participated in the Extreme Mustang Makeover, which is a competitive program managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that matches wild mustangs with trainers to compete in just 100 days in another region of the country.

The Thomases have been ac-tively involved in raising aware-ness about homeless horses.

While at the Bar T Ranch, Ms. Thomas became close with her new partner.

“I couldn’t believe how fast we were able to trust one an-other. He’s a gentle giant,” she said.

Throughout his training at the Bar T Ranch, Omri continued to impress visitors and the trainers themselves.

“It’s hard to believe that a horse that would’ve been dead in a week could have such an open mind to everything that we were teaching him,” said Mr. Thomas.

As word of Omri’s story and progress continued to spread, people become more and more interested in this gentle giant.

“My criteria that I realistical-ly did not think I would get all in one package was that I find a horse that was big enough for my husband to ride, gentle and tolerant enough for my grandkids, and something with enough willingness and train-ability for me to have fun on. I found all three with Omri. How amazing!” said Omri’s new

owner, Susan Redmond, who lives in Pittsboro.

Originally dubbed “Dozer” by the Thomases, Redmond want-ed a more sentimental name for her new companion,.

“‘Omri’ was the name of the little boy in a movie my daugh-ter loved when she was little. Omri...was a goofy looking kid [with] a huge heart. That’s what Dozer reminded us of.”

After owning Omri for only a couple of weeks, Redmond took him to an event hosted by the Eno Triangle Horsemasters where she and Omri had two lessons a day, one on flat work and the other on jumping.

“Omri acted like he’d done it all his life. All the other riders were very impressed. He was one of the best behaved horses there.”

Redmond and Omri plan to compete in local Combined Training tests, trail ride, partic-ipate in Horsemasters clinics, have lessons with English riding instructors and the Thomases, and maybe partake in some Extreme Cowboy Races.

Ms. Thomas described Omri’s journey as “serendipi-tous,” a happy accident.

For everyone involved in Omri’s story, it is a touching reminder of how things can fall into place when you’re least ex-pecting it. With a little luck, and a little chance, Omri is now in a forever home where he contin-ues to defy the odds and inspire those who surround him.

“He is the sweetest horse I think I’ve ever owned,” Ms. Thomas said. I’m look for-ward to Omri teaching me even more.”

Rose’s Meat Market will be offering a free whole chicken butchering demonstration Saturday, September 15th, at the Chatham Mills Farmers’ Market.

The demo, to be held from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., will feature fresh birds from Down to Earth Farm and LillyDen Farm, both regular vendors at the market.

Discover why it is more economical to buy a whole chicken and how to serve multiple meals with your one purchase. They will demon-strate many different ways to break down a chicken as well as talk about all the ways to cook the bird and also share some recipes.

Rose’s Meat Market and Sweet Shop specializes in whole animal butchery, utiliz-ing every part of the animals nose to tail. They only buy and sell local and sustainable prod-ucts and fully support North Carolina farmers.

Chatham Mills Farmers Market is located in the front parking lot of Historic Chatham Mills at 480 Hillsboro St in downtown Pittsboro.

Chickenbutcheringdemo set

See ‘Gains page 12-B

News of Chatham Section

BNews, Sports and Features Thursday, September 13, 2012

See ‘Search page 12-B

Jeff Davis photo

Harvest Time . . .With the nip in the air and cool early morning temps, farmers are working on their fall harvest, putting the corn in storage and waiting for the winter. This farmer was spotted near Randolph County clearing his corn field. After a quick load, a helper backed up a truck so it could be placed in and the work continued.

Jeff Davis photo

Blending In . . .A hawk sits on a fence post in Chatham County, waiting for a quick snack to fill it up. The colors of the hawk blend in well with the texture of the fence, making it hard to see the bird of prey.

Once again the generous readers of Chatham County have overwhelmed orga-nizers of the annual book sale fundraiser at Chatham Community Library in Pittsboro with their donations for the Fall 2012 book sale.

With the sale just a month away--Thursday, Friday and Saturday, September 27, 28 and 29— they have already received as many donations as they have space to store and efficiently display for the sale.

“Believe it or not we can suffer from too many books,” said one person assisting with the sale’s planning.

“So accordingly we would ask that if you have books you were planning to donate between now and the sale, please hold them until after the sale. We will begin ac-cepting new donations for the Spring 2013 sale the first week of October, so bring them in after that.”

Readers are urged to mark your calendars for this up-coming sale.

The effort has received more than 15,000 books and audio and video materials. All of them are in good to ex-cellent condition. As usual, the sale will have an impres-sive collection of mysteries, history, fiction, trade paper-backs, cookbooks, children’s books and many more cat-egories.

Some particularly interest-ing books will be available in the Collectors’ Corner. You can see a list of these by go-ing to: www.friendsofthecha-thamcommunitylibrary.org/booksale.htm and clicking on “View a preview list of the Fall 2012 special books.”

More details about the sale will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead.

CommunityLibrarybooksaleoverflows

RALEIGH—Federal tax credits and other financing awarded recently to build affordable apartments in 30 North Carolina coun-ties, including Chatham, are expected to support 7,100 jobs.

Nearly $307 million in de-velopment will result from the tax credits and loans approved last week by the Tax Reform Allocation Committee and the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency.

“These 42 affordable apartment developments will provide housing oppor-tunities for working families and seniors, improve com-munities, and build local tax bases,” said N.C. Housing Finance Agency Chairman Sam Ewell. “Building them will keep thousands of North Carolinians working in construction and related industries.”

The new awards will pro-duce 2,482 privately owned, privately-managed afford-able apartments. Seventy-two percent of the recently approved apartments (1,777 units) will be designated for families, and 705 units will house elderly residents. At least 248 of the apartments are targeted for persons with disabilities.

The new awards will bring the number of Housing Credit apartments built in the state to more than 60,000.

In addition to the fed-eral tax credits, 20 of the apartment developments will receive loans totaling $14.7 million approved by the N.C. Housing Finance Agency’s board of directors. All the developments will receive state tax credits as authorized by the General Assembly. The loans and state tax credits make it pos-sible to produce affordable apartments in rural counties where incomes are low, and to reduce the rents in urban counties.

Dr. Jonathan B. Oberlander, UNC-CH professor, and expert in Medicare policy, managed care, and health politics, will speak about the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) on Saturday, September 15 at 3 p.m. at The Chatham County Public Library in Pittsboro.

Americans still have many questions about this legisla-tion, and attendees will have the opportunity to question Dr. Oberlander at the end of the speech.

Dr. Oberlander’s perspec-tive has been described as carefully researched and prac-tical, rather than ideological. He has special expertise in the politics of health care re-form and has researched the Obama administration’s plan for health care reform and cost control.

He is the author and co-editor of two books on health care policy: The Political Life of Medicare, and The Social Medicine Reader.Articles and opinion pieces by Professor Oberlander have appeared in The New York Review of Books, The New England Journal of Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, Health Affairs, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.

Dr. Oberlander has com-mented on health reform for a number of media outlets, in-cluding The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, the BBC, CBS News and PBS.

This program is sponsored by the Chatham County Democratic Women and is your chance to get the facts from an expert on how Health Care Reform affects each of us: the insured, the uninsured, and those on Medicare.

The forum is free and the public is invited.

State gains $307 million in affordable apartments

Expert on health care

to speak

By John Hunter “The last search we were

on was on July 9 in Dare County. The sheriff’s office was looking for a missing woman from Ohio,” Melisa Semenov said.

The missing woman had disappeared while vacation-ing in the Outer Banks in July. Acting on tips, police had a strong hunch that foul play involved.

In a county filled with 384 square miles of ever-chang-ing dunes and underdevel-oped, national protected areas, Semenov, as a mem-ber of North Carolina Canine Emergency Response Team (NC C.E.R.T.), and her German Shepherd, Sax, came to help find the miss-ing woman.

Recalling another search, Semenov said, “Each one is different. I went on a search in West Virginia where the family was present. The fam-ily was watching us search. That was hard.”

For Semenov, who has

lived in Pittsboro for the last 18 years, this all began be-cause of an interest in tracking nearly a decade ago.

“On the weekends, we’dhave someone hide and the dogs would try to find them,”Semenov said.

About eight years ago, she began working with Donnie Hult, Jr. of Hadnot Creek Kennels in Swansboro.

“I decided that this is some-thing that I wanted to do se-riously. I realized that I really had a passion for it,” Semenov said.

In 2005, Semenov became a member of NC C.E.R.T. is a non-profit corporation with a mission statement to provided highly skilled search teams 24 hours a day. NC C.E.R.T. re-sponds to the requests of law enforcement agencies, emer-gency management and fire departments in searches for lost or missing people. Sax, however, is strictly a human remains dectection (HRD) dog, focusing only on recov-ery.

Since joining NC C.E.R.T., Semenov has been involved with about 20 search mis-sions. She’s had three dogs – two of w h i c h w e r e G e r m a n Shepards.

“ S o m e people are lab peo-ple. Some p e o p l e use border c o l l i e s . I prefer G e r m a n Shepards,”Semenov said.

S e a r c h dogs must r e a c h c e r t a i n r e q u i r e -ments before even being con-sidered.

“Most agencies won’t cer-tify a dog that is under a year old. They simply aren’t ma-ture enough

In March, she received the 2012 Keeper of the Flame Award from the Community United Effort, a missing per-

son’s agency in Wilmington. In April, she and K9 Sax earned National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR) certification in hu-

Local dog, woman go the distance when searching for missing people