DUI - The Durango Herald

Two men suspected of helping DUI suspect flee fatal crash in Durango

Current and former Fort Lewis College football players face charges in connection with firefighter’s death

DATE: Jan 12, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Durango DUI arrests increased 14% in 2022

Law enforcement typically sees an increase in cases around the holidays

DATE: Jan 4, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Durango judge seeks balance with 3-year prison sentence in DUI crash causing serious injury

Farmington man was turning into marijuana shop when he collided with oncoming vehicle

DATE: Oct 31, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

Repeat drunken driving suspect arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide in Durango

Police: Rupert Chee rolled his vehicle, killing a passenger

DATE: Oct 18, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

New Mexico State Police plans DUI checkpoints throughout October

Goal is to change attitudes about driving impaired

DATE: Sep 30, 2022 | CATEGORY: New Mexico

Durango driver formally charged in connection with hitting, killing bicyclist

Affidavit: Lorenzo Jones tried to cover up his involvement before confessing

DATE: Aug 26, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

The Hive brings back Buzz Bus to reduce drunken driving in Durango

Free, on-demand weekend nighttime transportation within city limits could start as early as Friday

DATE: May 25, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

Fewer crimes in Durango during first quarter of 2022 compared with same time last year

Police prioritizing ‘hot spots’ in preventive strategy to reduce offenses

DATE: May 1, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

Two Durango women killed in head-on crash on U.S. Highway 160 near Bayfield

Driver suspected of being under the influence of drugs, alcohol

DATE: Apr 28, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

Colorado state representative smelled of alcohol, refused breath test before DUI arrest

Matt Gray was trying to pick up his children when he was arrested, according to police report

DATE: Apr 25, 2022 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Proposed law would allow Coloradans convicted of DUIs to get licenses reinstated sooner

Third offense would trigger 90-day continuous monitoring requirement

DATE: Feb 23, 2022 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Durango man suspected of drunken driving, driving high in rollover crash on Farmington Hill

Passenger flown to Grand Junction hospital with critical injuries

DATE: Feb 14, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

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High Country Cattle Auction brings top-notch stock and country charm to Southwest ColoradoFamily run, generational business dates back to 1940s

BREEN – The family-owned and operated High Country Cattle Auction is “in the bones” of the Cugnini family, said third-generation owner Chris Cugnini. The business was founded by Chris’ grandfather, Pat Cugnini, in the 1940s. Pat then passed the business down to his son, Duane Cugnini, who then turned the business over to daughters, Becky Hawkins and Chris Cugnini, whose daughters plan to take over the family business one day. The auction, which takes place once or twice a month from April to January at 13062 La Plata Highway (Colorado Highway 140) near Breen, attracts ranchers, farmers and those in the cattle industry from far and wide.

Former Durango resident Steve Greenburg has been attending the High Country Cattle auction for more than 40 years, and continues to travel to Breen all the way from Arizona, where he now lives. He attended the September auction last week, where around 1,200 animals were up for sale. Greenburg said effective bidding takes concentration and a practiced hand. “You want to make sure you don’t pay too much,” he said. “And if you do, you want to buy the business.” Amber Belvin, employee of 15 years and Chris’ operations “sidekick,” said bidders are most often looking for signs of good health in an animal, like a plump, filled-out body. If bidding on a herd, a look of uniformity among the animals is key to a good purchase, she said.

Despite Greenburg already having a handful of filled out bidding cards marking the cattle he had won within an hour of the Sept. 23 auction, he said the day was young. One sale day last year culminated in Greenburg taking home 22 semi-trucks worth of cattle, he said. Chris said Greenburg is one of the auction’s longest-term and most generous supporters. “(Greenburg) pays top-dollar,” Chris said. “And (that) makes me feel good, because we’re giving back to (the sellers). I know these people around here, and they’re the hardest working people on the planet. If I can get them 10 or 20 cents more per pound, then that makes us happy.”

Cattle auction prices have gone up in recent years, both at High Country and nationally, Chris said. This year, animals are going for $2,500 to $3,000 a head – double and triple the average prices from last year. The increase, Chris said, is in part because of a screw worm making the rounds in cattle in Mexico, which has lowered the number of cattle coming in from the south, along with people subdividing and selling cattle branches, and local cattle herd numbers diminishing, which has increased demand.

Chris called the price increase “good and bad.” “It’s great if you’re a seller, because there’s prices that you’ve never seen before,” she said. “Older men come in, (and they) can’t believe the prices. Some of them do this for a living, and they count on that, so they’re so happy.” Belvin said some smaller farmers opt to buy less cattle during price surges like this, but echoed Chris’ sentiment about sellers being ecstatic about the unprecedented profit.

Local cattle farmer Lawrence Martinez entered 59 steers and 95 heifers in the auction Tuesday. Martinez has been involved in the High Country Cattle Auction “pretty much forever,” but recent years have been especially fruitful for sales, he said. “These last few years, we’ve been coming here to sell, because this is the place to go,” he said. “I wouldn’t sell anywhere else. (The market here has) been so good.”The auction’s community roots and generational touch doesn’t stop at the Cugnini family: Shane Hatch, the auctioneer, took over the job after his father’s death, Belvin said.

The auction serves as an opportunity for community members to get together and bond, Belvin said. “When we do have an auction, it’s a great place where local farmers and ranchers can get together and talk,” she said. “They come to the cafe, and they talk about the hay, and the drought situation, and I think it’s a good connecting point.” Chris and Belvin both expressed feeling glad the auction can supply so much generational value to the local farming and ranching community. “I mean, what other business can you think of around here that’s the same, right?” Belvin said. “We’re fair, and we’re very meticulous at our jobs. We take it very seriously, because this is (some peoples’) livelihood.”

For the Cugninis – and long-term employees like Belvin, who have become an honorary part of the close-knit High Country Cattle Auction family – the heart of the business aligns with the heart of the local farming and ranching community. “We’re just good, hard working people – Americans – that want to make a good living, and live off this great land,” Belvin said. epond@durangoherald.com

Family run, generational business dates back to 1940s