Health - The Durango Herald

Opioid overdoses in ERs up 30 percent as crisis worsens

NEW YORK – Emergency rooms saw a big jump in overdoses from opioids last year – the latest evidence the nation’s drug crisis is getting worse. A government report released Tuesday...

DATE: Mar 7, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Even the small stresses of daily life can hurt your health

When people talk about harmful stress - the kind that can affect health - they usually point to big, life-changing events, such as the death of a loved one. A growing body of research sugges...

DATE: Mar 6, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Opioid poisonings, overdoses send more U.S. kids to hospitals

CHICAGO – Opioid poisonings and overdoses are sending increasing numbers of U.S. children and teens to the hospital, according to a study showing a substantial rise in young patients needing...

DATE: Mar 5, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Science Says: Why Europe still has so many measles outbreaks

LONDON – While parts of the world have all but banished measles, Europe is still getting hit with large outbreaks where some people don’t get vaccinated. Measles is still a bigger...

DATE: Mar 3, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

What’s in the IV bag? Studies show safer option than saline

New research calls into question what’s in those IV bags that nearly every hospitalized patient gets. Using a different intravenous fluid instead of the usual saline greatly reduced the risk...

DATE: Feb 28, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

New services, technologies can help with aging in place

There is nothing quite as devastating for many older people as having to leave the comfort of home because of poor health or limited mobility. But a new generation of services and...

DATE: Feb 27, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Swallowing problems can be a serious health risk

Behind your tongue, just a few inches down the back of your throat, lies a dangerous precipice: over one edge it’s a straight shot down your trachea and bronchi and into the lungs, and over ...

DATE: Feb 26, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Our Place adult day care in Durango to close

Lack of clients makes operation financially unfeasible

DATE: Feb 26, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Preventive treatment for peanut allergy succeeds in study

The first treatment to help prevent serious allergic reactions to peanuts may be on the way. A company said Tuesday that its daily capsules of peanut powder helped children build tolerance i...

DATE: Feb 24, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Hickenlooper, other governors release health plan

‘Bipartisan blueprint’ aims to stabilize markets

DATE: Feb 23, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Carbs, fat, DNA? Weight loss is finicky, new study shows

CHICAGO (AP) – A precision nutrition approach to weight loss didn’t hold up in a study testing low fat versus low carb depending on dieters’ DNA profiles. Previous research has su...

DATE: Feb 21, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Stuck in an opioids crisis, officials turn to acupuncture

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Marine veteran Jeff Harris was among the first to sign up when the Providence VA hospital started offering acupuncture for chronic pain. “I don’t like taking pa...

DATE: Feb 20, 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