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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Stephen Raetz, 67, his wife Jackie, 62, and Samuel Miller, 69, all sustained injuries in the head-on collision which took place just after 2 p.m. Tuesday, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Adam Garcia.
Garcia said Stephen Raetz was driving his 2005 Ford Taurus eastbound on Highway 20 in Glenhaven when his vehicle crossed over the double yellow lines and struck Miller's 1993 Toyota Corolla head-on.
A preliminary investigation indicates that Stephen Raetz may have fallen asleep at the wheel prior to the collision, said Garcia.
Jackie Raetz sustained major injuries which were not life-threatening, said Garcia. She was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital via REACH air ambulance.
Miller sustained minor to moderate injuries and was taken to Sutter Lakeside Hospital by Northshore Fire ambulance, said Garcia, while Stephen Raetz sustained minor injuries but was not transported.
CHP Officer Efrain Cortez is investigating the collision, Garcia said.
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The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office reported this week that 46-year-old Tina Huffman was arrested shortly after 1 a.m. May 1 after a car she was riding in was pulled over in the 4000 block of N. Highway 101 in Ukiah.
Deputies detected the odor of marijuana coming from Huffman's purse, a search of which revealed more than an an ounce of marijuana, methamphetamine, a glass methamphetamine pipe and an hypodermic syringe, the report stated.
Huffman was evaluated, determined to be under the influence of a controlled substance, and arrested, according to Mendocino officials.
She was booked into the Mendocino County Jail for possession of a controlled substance as well as possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana and being under the influence of a controlled substance.
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Nicolai Chukreeff, 40, was stabbed to death in an incident Sunday night that took place at the Harbor Lite Resort on Lakeshore, according to a Monday Clearlake Police report.
Clearlake Police had not made any arrests on Monday in connection with the murder.
“I want the person caught, whoever did it,” said Chukreeff's younger sister, Michelle Giguiere of Santa Rosa.
Giguiere said her brother was born in San Jose and spent most of his youth in Santa Rosa. He was the second-oldest of five children, which included three boys and two girls.
Chukreeff's other sister, Ellena, said he had lived in Clearlake for the last five years. For two decades had had worked in construction, with cement work being his specialty.
Earlier this year, he had open heart surgery to repair a defective heart valve, Ellena Chukreeff said. He had spoken to their grandmother last Wednesday after a checkup with his doctor, which showed his heart to be in good condition.
He had looked forward to living a long and healthy life following his surgery, his sisters said.
Nick Chukreeff's sisters said he loved to fish and go boating, and shared his passion for fishing with his family, including his two nephews. He was so good at fishing that they jokingly called him “the fish whisperer.” Giguiere also remembered his great laugh.
“That's what we don't understand,” said Giguiere. “He was so loving. He'd give the shirt off his back to anybody who needed it.”
He also was a father figure to his younger siblings, said Giguiere, all of whom had a difficult upbringing. That, she said, brought all of them closer.
Nick Chukreeff's family-oriented outlook made him particularly protective. Giguiere said recently she had been ill and he made the trip from Clearlake to Santa Rosa just to check in on her. He'd do anything for his family, she said.
“I'm just looking for justice,” Ellena Chukreeff said in an e-mail message to Lake County News.
She also questioned what happened to her brother and who was with him. Neither she nor her sister received information from police on Monday.
Giguiere said the words “only the good die young” keep going through her head.
“My heart hurts so bad, because whoever did this took a really good person,” she said.
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COBB MOUNTAIN – A building that once was a well-known restaurant and bar burned down early Monday morning.
The building, located along Highway 175, once housed the 4 Nicks, JB's and Brewsky's, said South Lake County Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Jim Wright.
Wright said the district received the call that the building was on fire at about 1 a.m. When firefighters arrived, the roof already was fully engulfed and the fire was lighting up the sky.
Three engines – one from Cal Fire and two from South Lake County Fire – along with two South Lake water tenders responded to the fire, along with about 15 firefighters, said Wright.
Also responding were Lake County Sheriff's deputies, California Highway Patrol officers and Caltrans staff, who controlled traffic on the highway as firefighters worked to put out the blaze, Wright said.
Because the area has no fire hydrants, Wright said firefighters used the nearby Whispering Pines Resort pool as a water source.
The fire was contained within about an hour, said Wright, with the fire completely out by about 6 a.m.
Between 5 a.m .and 5:30 a.m. Highway 175 was completely reopened so morning commuter traffic was able to move through, he said.
The building's upstairs is gone, with the downstairs remaining, but Wright said the structure is a complete loss. He didn't have a value estimate on total damages Monday.
Wright said the fire does not appear to have been an arson.
A generator had been used in the upstairs to power an adjacent cabin, he said. The fire “appeared to have started upstairs in the area of the generator.”
The building, which he said had been vacant for several years, had at one time looked like a log cabin, but recent remodels had added a stucco exterior.
A travel trailer adjacent to the main building that sustained minor damage, said Wright. No injuries to firefighters or anyone else were reported.
County Code Enforcement Manager Voris Brumfield said the building was red-tagged at 7 a.m.
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