Health - The Durango Herald

Taking abortion pill at home as safe as in a clinic, study says

LONDON – Medical abortions done at home with online help and pills sent in the mail appear to be just as safe as those done at a clinic, according to a new study. The research tra...

DATE: May 19, 2017 | CATEGORY: Health

Women in 30s now having more babies than younger moms in U.S.

NEW YORK – For the first time, women in their early 30s are having more babies than younger moms in the United States. Health experts say the shift is attributable to more women w...

DATE: May 18, 2017 | CATEGORY: Health

Tests for lead poisoning may be faulty, U.S. regulators warn

U.S. health agencies on Wednesday warned that certain blood tests for lead poisoning may give results lower than the actual level of lead. As a result, some children under 6, alon...

DATE: May 17, 2017 | CATEGORY: Health

Sessions’ war on drugs worries medical marijuana advocates

WASHINGTON – A little-noticed document issued by President Donald Trump has put advocates of medical marijuana on edge, raising questions about the long-term security of programs now authori...

DATE: May 16, 2017 | CATEGORY: Health

Side effects emerge after approval for many U.S. drugs

CHICAGO – Almost one-third of new drugs approved by U.S. regulators over a decade ended up years later with warnings about unexpected, sometimes life-threatening side effects or complication...

DATE: May 9, 2017 | CATEGORY: Health

Young Manna visitors to enjoy play set

Young visitors to Manna will have a place of their own after the Durango Daybreak Rotary Club donated and installed a play structure on Saturday. About 20 volunteers helped build ...

DATE: May 6, 2017 | CATEGORY: Local News

Fun run honors elementary school teacher

Ignacio’s Laura Wagner is recovering from brain surgery

DATE: May 6, 2017 | CATEGORY: Local News

Jimmy Kimmel baby’s heart defect is common, fixable

The hole-in-the-heart problem that plagues comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s newborn son is one of the most common heart-related birth defects, and it usually can be fixed with surgery. Som...

DATE: May 2, 2017 | CATEGORY: Health

Global warming may get Americans off the couch more

WASHINGTON – Global warming’s milder winters will likely nudge Americans off the couch more in the future, a rare, small benefit of climate change, a new study finds. With less ch...

DATE: Apr 26, 2017 | CATEGORY: Health

Germ in raw milk, poultry now tops food poisoning list

NEW YORK – The U.S. government’s latest report card on food poisoning suggests that a germ commonly linked to raw milk and poultry is surpassing salmonella at the top of the culprit list. ...

DATE: Apr 24, 2017 | CATEGORY: Health

Overcoming Opioids: The quest for less addictive drugs

Tummy tucks really hurt. Doctors carve from hip to hip, slicing off skin, tightening muscles, tugging at innards. Patients often need strong painkillers for days or even weeks, but Mary Hern...

DATE: Apr 19, 2017 | CATEGORY: Health

Survey shows why doctors choose medicine and the challenges they face

She was just 15 when it happened. She started having trouble breathing when she ran cross-country, and she felt intense itching on her body, especially her lower limbs. She would stay up all...

DATE: Apr 10, 2017 | CATEGORY: Health

Photos: High County Cattle Auction

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