Health - The Durango Herald

Antacids, antibiotics for infants linked to later allergies

Infants who are given antacids like Zantac or Pepcid are more likely to develop childhood allergies, perhaps because these drugs may alter their gut bacteria, a new large study suggests. ...

DATE: Apr 2, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Yucky ducky? Study reveals bath-time toy’s dirty secret

BERN, Switzerland – Scientists have the dirt on the rubber ducky: Those cute yellow bath-time toys are – as some parents have long suspected – a haven for nasty bugs. Swiss and Am...

DATE: Apr 1, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Science Says: What we know about cancer risk and coffee

Trouble is brewing for coffee lovers in California, where a judge ruled that sellers must post scary warnings about cancer risks. But how frightened should we be of a daily cup of joe? Not v...

DATE: Mar 31, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Selfie medicine: Phone apps push people to take their pills

SEATTLE – Take two tablets and a selfie? Your doctor’s orders may one day include a smartphone video to make sure you took your medicine. Smartphone apps that monitor pill-taking ...

DATE: Mar 28, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Study: Medical bankruptcies may not be as common as thought

Medical bills can push patients over the financial cliff, but a new study says this may not happen as often as previous research suggests. Hospitalizations cause only about 4 perc...

DATE: Mar 27, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Dentist group puts teeth in push to curb opioid painkillers

CHICAGO – The American Dental Association wants dentists to drastically cut back on prescribing opioid painkillers. The association announced a new policy Monday that “essentially...

DATE: Mar 26, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Amid shortage, health education centers work to recruit rural doctors

Colorado could be short 800 primary care physicians by 2020

DATE: Mar 23, 2018 | CATEGORY: Southwest Life

Are you storing your pills in the right place? A dose of reality

Just about every household has pills. Where’s the best place to keep them? It’s not the medicine cabinet – or your kitchen counter. About 82 percent of American adults take at lea...

DATE: Mar 22, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

First aid: Not just for scraped knees

Class teaches how to recognize mental health disorders, support people in crisis

DATE: Mar 21, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Study finds obesity robs the tongue of taste buds in mice

WASHINGTON – Packing on pounds seems to dull people’s sense of taste, and puzzled researchers turned to mice to figure out why: Obesity, they found, can rob the tongue of taste buds. ...

DATE: Mar 20, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Suicide-prevention speaker will appear tonight via livestream

Kevin Hines was scheduled to make an appearance at Fort Lewis College

DATE: Mar 19, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Flu, crowded shelters create perfect storm for homeless

The flu descended on Connie Gabaldon like a fog, she recalled, clouding her mind and compromising her judgment. It progressed to chest and back pain, the aches perhaps made worse by a fall t...

DATE: Mar 19, 2018 | 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