Health - The Durango Herald

U.S. health officials report new vaping deaths, repeat warning

NEW YORK – U.S. health officials on Friday again urged people to stop vaping until they figure out why some are coming down with serious breathing illnesses. Officials have identi...

DATE: Sep 6, 2019 | CATEGORY: Health

San Juan Basin Public Health reports rabid bat

La Plata and Archuleta counties tested 26 bats

DATE: Sep 5, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

UN: Possible to eradicate malaria, but probably not soon

LONDON – The World Health Organization says it’s theoretically possible to wipe out malaria, but probably not with the imperfect vaccine and other control methods being used at the moment. ...

DATE: Sep 4, 2019 | CATEGORY: Health

UN: Don’t worry about drinking microplastics in water

GENEVA – The World Health Organization says the levels of microplastics in drinking water don’t appear to be risky, but that research has been spotty and more is needed into their effects on...

DATE: Sep 4, 2019 | CATEGORY: Health

When it comes to food allergies, how to help your kids snack smarter

Back-to-school time is stressful on its own. Add in the specter of food allergies – of your own kids or their friends – and the stakes can feel even higher. What to toss in the lunch bag? Wh...

DATE: Sep 4, 2019 | CATEGORY: Food

Medicare for All explored as an alternative to the status quo

Healthcare Durango explains single-payer system

DATE: Aug 31, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

As with adults, no easy way to address weight with children

NEW YORK – Red, yellow, green. It’s a system for conveying the healthfulness of foods, and at the center of a debate about how to approach weight loss for children. This month, th...

DATE: Aug 31, 2019 | CATEGORY: Health

Mumps sickens hundreds of detained migrants in 19 states

Mumps has swept through 57 immigration detention facilities in 19 states since September 2018, according to the first U.S. government report on the outbreaks in the overloaded immigration sy...

DATE: Aug 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Health

‘Dramatic resurgence’ of measles seen in Europe, WHO reports

LONDON – The World Health Organization says there has been a “dramatic resurgence” of measles in Europe, in part fueled by vaccine refusals, with nearly 90,000 people sickened by the virus i...

DATE: Aug 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Health

La Plata County Sheriff’s lieutenant shoots himself in leg

Officer was airlifted to Denver hospital after training accident

DATE: Aug 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

How much pot in that brownie? Chocolate can throw off tests

How much marijuana is really in that pot brownie? Chocolate can throw off potency tests so labels aren’t always accurate, and now scientists are trying to figure out why. In state...

DATE: Aug 26, 2019 | CATEGORY: Health

UN: Ebola outbreak in Congo has killed nearly 2,000 people

LONDON – The World Health Organization’s emergencies chief said the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Congo is approaching a “stark” milestone with nearly 2,000 people killed by the virus in the yea...

DATE: Aug 26, 2019 | CATEGORY: Health

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