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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A Clearlake Oaks woman who said she shot her boyfriend to death following a sexual assault has been arrested in Missouri after authorities said their investigation concluded the shooting was not justified.

On Wednesday, Tammy Sue Grogan Robinson, 56, of Clearlake Oaks was taken into custody in Duquesne, Missouri, said Lt. Corey Paulich of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Grogan Robinson is charged with the July 7 killing of Charles Vernon McClelland, 56, of Rohnert Park at her Clearlake Oaks residence.

Authorities said sheriff’s deputies first encountered Grogan Robinson at a local hospital in the hours after the shooting.

She told investigators that McClelland, who she had an on-again, off-again dating relationship with for five years, had sexually assaulted her at gunpoint, and that she had gotten control of the weapon and shot him.

McClelland’s autopsy the day after the shooting showed he died of multiple gunshot wounds, authorities said.

On Friday, Paulich said that over the past month the Lake County Sheriff’s Major Crimes detectives conducted an extensive followup investigation in the case.

He said they interviewed several family and friends of McClelland and Grogan Robinson, served several search warrants, and analyzed evidence at the scene as well as digital evidence.

After evaluating this evidence, detectives determined the shooting of McClelland was not justified, Paulich said.

The case was submitted to the District Attorney’s Office, which Paulich said filed a complaint for murder against Grogan Robinson.

Paulich said an arrest warrant for the charge of murder was issued for Grogan Robinson by the Lake County Superior Court.

He said detectives worked with authorities in Kansas City, Joplin, and Duquesne, Missouri to locate Grogan Robinson and arrest her on Wednesday.

As for why Grogan Robinson was in Missouri, Paulich said she had family there.

Grogan Robinson was booked into custody at the Jasper County Detention Center in Carthage, Missouri, with bail set at $2 million, Paulich said.

Paulich said Grogan Robinson is awaiting extradition to Lake County.

The sheriff’s office extended its thanks to the Joplin, Duquesne and Kansas City Missouri police departments for their assistance.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — As firefighters continued to raise the containment on the Cache fire, officials on Thursday began the work of turning from emergency response to the recovery process.

On Thursday, Lake County Fire Protection District Chief Willie Sapeta said the fire had been mapped at 83 acres, with containment between 30 and 40 percent.

Sapeta and several other local officials offered an update on conditions during a news conference at Clearlake City Hall that lasted just over 15 minutes on Thursday evening.

While not as big as some of Lake County’s other destructive fires, Sheriff Brian Martin said the Cache fire nonetheless impacted the community “quickly and severely.”

Sapeta said fire crews continued working on the incident around the clock throughout Thursday, and they were expected to downgrade to 12-hour shifts on Saturday or Sunday. Nine engines are to be working in the fire area on Friday.

He said firefighters originally had been dispatched to an oven fire at another location when they saw the column of smoke and he requested Cal Fire and area strike teams to respond.

Because of how fast the fire was moving, Sapeta said there was a delayed initial attack on the fire, with resources instead focused on evacuating residents in the area. He has estimated that as many as 1,600 residents were evacuated at the peak of the incident.

Clearlake City Manager Alan Flora said an initial damage assessment completed on Thursday identified 56 destroyed homes, 81 outbuildings and 158 vehicles.

Clearlake Police Chief Andrew White said they are not aware of any fatalities and have no formal missing person reports.

He said his officers and detectives have been working to contact all the residents of the homes destroyed in the fire area and have so far been able to clear 51 of them. Additional properties are yet to be searched.

Those displaced by the fire still have an evacuation shelter available to them. On Thursday, the shelter was moved from Kelseyville High School to Twin Pine Casino in Middletown. Theresa Showen of the Lake County Department of Social Services said between Wednesday and Thursday they had a total of 72 people registered.

Showen said they were working to meet immediate needs — a place to stay, food, medications — with the Red Cross to take over the sheltering effort and the county to have a support role.

Evacuation orders for parts of Clearlake and Lower Lake remained in effect on Thursday.

Sapeta said he looks forward to being able to lift those orders, but explained that making sure it’s safe for residents is a “very daunting and slow process.”

He said a significant amount of trees need to be cut back, while repairs need to be made to infrastructure. Thirty utility poles were destroyed and a tower was damaged, and Pacific Gas and Electric was brought in on Thursday to begin repairs.

Mayor Dirk Slooten thanked the many agencies that had helped the city and the numerous nonprofits that are also coming forward to offer assistance. “We can do this together. Remember this is Lake County strong.”

Supervisor Bruno Sabatier, formerly a Clearlake City Council member, also expressed his thanks to firefighters. “While the fire was devastating and extreme, it was stopped from doing further destruction” by those first responders, he said.

Sabatier pledged that the county will work with state and federal partners to help the city. “The conversations have already begun.”

Fire district, city council approve emergency declarations

During a special Thursday morning meeting, the Lake County Fire Protection District Board approved an emergency declaration in response to the fire.

Board President Jacqueline Snyder said taking such an action is “a first” for the district in her time there.

With the fire in the local responsibility area, not the state’s, the district could be hit hard by the impacts, Snyder said.

“We’re all having to learn a different way of life at this point,” said Snyder.

That action was followed on Thursday evening by the Clearlake City Council unanimously ratifying the declaration of a local emergency that Flora had issued the previous night in his authority as the city’s emergency services director.

Councilman Russ Perdock noted that the county’s past fires have been bundled with other incidents in order to qualify for federal assistance. He asked if it’s possible with this fire.

Flora noted it’s a great question. “At this point, it’s not looking likely,” but he said the city and county supervisors are asking if that’s possible. The city has a call scheduled on Friday with Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and state Sen. Mike McGuire to discuss the matter.

Later in the meeting, Flora updated the council on the overall fire situation, explaining a variety of agencies are continuing to assist the city in the recovery efforts that will be ongoing for some time.

He said Lake County Environmental Health did an assessment in the fire area, finding no industrial scale waste but a lot of household hazardous waste. That’s along with the ash and heavy metals from monitor heaters, propane tanks, burned mobile homes and vehicles.

Another concern is the proximity to Cache Creek and the potential for contamination from the burned properties, which included what Flora called an “unofficial wrecking yard” filled with vehicles.

There also are issues with drinking water availability. He said the Cache Creek Mobile Home Park, one of the parks in the fire area, lost its water system to the fire.

On Thursday afternoon, Flora spoke with the general manager of the Konocti County Water District, which was in the process of taking that system over, and they are working on an emergency tie for that park to ensure a water source.

Flora said the city has asked for a hazmat team from the California Office of Emergency Services. The state has agreed to provide that team but the city doesn’t yet know when.

Due to high winds, a lot of ash is blowing into Cache Creek, with Flora explaining that the state hazmat teams have treatments to address that.

In the meantime, Clearlake Public Works is using a water truck to keep the area damp to stop ash from moving into the watershed. Even though there isn’t much water in Cache Creek, Flora said if pollutants get into the creek, they could travel into Yolo County.

He said that the city has done a lot of towing of abandoned vehicles over the last several months and so has zero capacity for storing more. That will necessitate an emergency contract to remove the vehicles from the fire area.

Flora said few of the property owners who had damage actually have property insurance. “That’s going to be a problem for the recovery efforts.”

At the same time, however, it does strengthen the city’s chance of getting state resources, he said.

Flora said there also has been an outpouring of offers of assistance and support, including from contractors the city works with on a regular basis.

He said he was very pleased with how the community is already stepping in, again, to offer support. “It’s a large disaster for us.”

While he doesn’t expect the city to meet the thresholds for state and federal assistance, Flora said they were going to work to get the needed resources.

Both Flora and White noted during the meeting that the fire caused significant infrastructure damage.

While the meeting was taking place, White received an update from PG&E on the repairs. He said it’s possible that Dam Road could be reopened on Sunday, but added, “There’s a lot of infrastructure repair to be done.”

Councilman Russ Cremer said he had toured the fire area with Sabatier and Martin. “It’s total devastation,” he said.

Slooten added that it reminded him of escaping the Sulphur fire with his wife in 2017.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The superintendent of the Konocti Unified School District said schools in Lower Lake were closed on Thursday and will remain so on Friday as a result of the Cache fire.

Konocti Unified reopened for classes on Monday. Just two days later, shortly after 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the Cache fire erupted in Clearlake, swiftly moving into parts of Lower Lake.

On Thursday evening, officials said damage assessments so far have found the 83-acre fire destroyed 56 homes, 81 outbuildings and 158 vehicles.

The fire, at that point about 40% contained, damaged utility infrastructure. On Thursday evening, 105 customers in the fire area along Dam Road were still out of power, Pacific Gas and Electric reported.

Evacuation orders also remained in place for portions of Lower Lake and Clearlake on Thursday night.

The Cache fire, hit by strong winds, threw numerous spot fires, some of them burning close to Lower Lake Elementary School and Lower Lake High School.

The fire’s proximity — there were reports that it burned on school property near the site of facilities that had burned in the Clayton fire — necessitated the evacuation of students.

Officials said students were evacuated by 2 p.m. Wednesday and transported by bus to Haverty Field at Austin Park in Clearlake.

Superintendent Dr. Becky Salato said the district evacuated 1,500 students and 200 staff “very successfully.”

In a message to parents, Dr. Salato said there was no structural damage to any of our schools.

She said Lower Lake High School, Lower Lake Elementary School, Carle Continuation High School, Blue Heron and Highlands Academy were closed on Thursday and would remain closed on Friday.

From Friday through Sunday, staff will deep clean the interiors of the school buildings. Salato said that work includes cleaning and disinfecting horizontal surfaces, hepa-vacuuming carpets, cleaning and disinfecting bathrooms, and changing HVAC filters.

The goal, said Salato, was to have students back in class in Lower Lake on Monday.

She said all of the district’s other schools will remain open on Friday.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — After missing last year due to the pandemic, the Lake County Home Wine and Beer Makers’ Festival is back.

This family-friendly fundraiser will take place at its usual location — Library Park in Lakeport — but on a new date, Sept. 18.

The “WineFest” normally happens annually on the Saturday before Father’s Day, so planning normally begins in February.

Since COVID-19 restrictions remained unclear in early 2021, organizers felt it prudent to change the date to later in the year.

Now in its 20th year, the WineFest has become a fixture in Lake County.

It was originally started by amateur winemakers who were members of the Lake County Symphony Association, to help raise needed funds for the Lake County Symphony.

The WineFest was later expanded to include amateur and commercial beer makers — a welcome addition that has included participants such as the Konocti Mashers and the O’Meara Bros. Brewing Co.

For nearly two decades, home winemakers and brewers from all over Northern California have come to Lake County to pour samples for the public.

Home winemakers have the chance to enter their products before the event for judging by experts. All participants are eligible for the gold, silver and bronze ribbons which are awarded for a wide range of varietals and brews. All have a chance to win the popular “Peoples’ Choice” awards voted on by attendees, with results announced during the festival.

While commercial Lake County wineries are usually on hand to pour tastes of their products too, they are not eligible for prizes; these only go to the amateurs.

But it’s not just about the wine and beer. As in past years, there will be numerous vendors offering arts and crafts, clothes and agricultural products. Attendees to this year’s event can also expect a variety of delicious food choices, including tri-tip sandwiches from our local Knights of Columbus.

Live music will be provided by the David Neft Duo, featuring David Neft on keyboard and Steve DuBois on drums.

The silent auction is another important piece of the WineFest as is the "barrel of wine" raffle, which gives the winner a huge assortment of Lake County wines.

“We are really glad we could make the WineFest happen in 2021,” said Carl Fredrickson, president of the Symphony Wine Club. “We did not want to miss another year. This is a major fundraiser for our local symphony and supports youth music programs, lessons and scholarships.”

WineFest chairperson Deborah Spangler-Welch added, “We are happy for the opportunity to share our local wine and beer again, and, of course, hoping for a huge turnout. We think people are ready to get out there, make up for the past year and have a fun day while supporting a good cause.”

There is still time for commercial or amateur wine and beer makers to get registered and participate in a day of friendly competition. Booths are provided at no charge to amateur wine and beer makers who register by the deadline. Food and craft vendors also have time to reserve a spot. Go to www.homewinemakersfestival.org for more details and to download an application.

Businesses or individuals who wish to support the symphony with a donation for the silent auction (gift basket, original artwork, gift card, or something similar) can contact Kerry Moore at 707-364-6165.

Admission to the WineFest is $30 with advance purchase, or $35 at the gate, and includes tasting of both amateur and commercial wines and beers. All tasters receive a commemorative wineglass and a wrist band for identification. Children and leashed pets are welcome, although tastings are restricted to those 21 years and older.

There is no charge for those who only want to walk around the area or visit the food vendors or the craft booths.

Advance tickets are available for purchase at Watershed Books and Lake County Chamber of Commerce in Lakeport, or online through Eventbrite.

For more information, go to Lake County Home Wine and Beer Makers Festival on Facebook or send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Debra Fredrickson is a member of the Lake County Symphony Association.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA — Pacific Gas and Electric said Thursday night that it had restored power to all of the 50,000 Northern California customers impacted by a public safety power shutoff this week, and also reported on the damage to equipment from the windstorm that prompted the shutoff.

The public safety power shutoff, or PSPS, began across 13 counties — including Lake — on Tuesday evening, with the all-clear called on Wednesday, when patrols for damaged equipment began.

In Lake County, approximately 4,563 customers, including 353 in the Medical Baseline program, were impacted in areas in and around Clearlake Oaks, Kelseyville, Cobb, Lower Lake, Riviera, Clearlake Highlands, Morgan Valley, Spring Valley and Hidden Valley Lake.

The company said wind gusts peaked at 56 miles per hour in the outage area.

PG&E said 1,300 ground patrol units and 33 helicopters inspected more than 3,200 miles of distribution and transmission lines for damage or hazards.That’s a distance greater than driving from San Francisco to Miami, Florida.

As of 5 p.m. Thursday, PG&E said preliminary data show at least 10 instances of weather-related damage and hazards in the PSPS-affected areas. Of those, at least four had the potential to cause wildfire ignitions if PG&E had not de-energized power lines.

Examples of those hazards include damaged equipment and vegetation and other debris on power lines. PG&E said more hazard and damage reports are being evaluated.

In areas where equipment was damaged by the windstorm, crews made repairs and then restored power to customers, the company said.

PG&E said it will submit a report to the California Public Utilities Commission detailing this PSPS event within 10 days of the restoration of the final customers.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — On Wednesday night, as firefighters continued their work to fully contain the Cache fire that burned in Clearlake and Lower Lake, the city of Clearlake declared an emergency in response to the incident.

City Manager Alan Flora emailed the declaration to council members, local officials and others including Lake County News shortly after 9 p.m., less than nine hours after the fire began.

Flora said staff will ask the council to ratify the declaration at its Thursday night meeting, when it will be added to the agenda as an emergency item.

The proclamation says that in addition to the 80 acres burned, the fire destroyed 60 homes, damaged Pacific Gas and Electric infrastructure, and resulted in “significant private property damage,” the full extent of which is still unknown.

The document also states that the majority of Creekside Mobile Home Park and portions of Cache Creek Mobile home park were destroyed, which causes concerns for pollution due to their proximity to Cache Creek.

Speaking Wednesday night from the incident command post at Lake Street and Tish-A-Tang Road, Lake County Fire Chief Willie Sapeta — one of the first on scene who was acting as incident commander overnight — said the damage assessment was still underway so he declined to estimate the number of structures destroyed, anticipating he would have firm numbers on Thursday morning.

He said most of the fire’s damage was centered on the south side of Dam Road, just east of Wilkinson Avenue.

Late Wednesday, the fire remained at 80 acres with 20% containment. Sapeta explained that it was only 20% because there was still a lot of fire burning within the perimeter, with spot fires continuing to kick up into the night.

“We’ll be hitting it all night and tomorrow,” Sapeta said.

During the course of the day, the Cache fire drew a huge response from agencies around Lake as well as four other counties, Sapeta said.

Fire grows fast, displacing thousands

The fire was first dispatched at 12:36 p.m. in the area of Sixth Avenue at Cache Street.

Initial reports stated that it was the result of a commercial vehicle fire that had spread into vegetation.

Follow-up reports from the scene would put the fire between Fourth and Sixth avenues, between Cache and Wilkinson avenues.

Sapeta confirmed that dispatch’s initial report was that it was a commercial vehicle fire, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

Based on the initial information, the Cache fire appears to be the second vehicle-caused fire in less than a week that had threatened a Lake County community. The Coyote fire on Friday, which burned 127 acres and some outbuildings, began due to a vehicle rollover, as Lake County News has reported.

Sapeta said when he arrived — radio reports put him on scene within minutes — the fire was an acre in size and “running hard at me,” and was “ripping pretty good” in 20 mile per hour winds.

“It had such a rapid rate that we couldn’t keep up with it,” said Sapeta.

The first units on scene reported multiple RVs in the area on fire and an extreme rate of fire spread.

Reports from the scene had it growing from Sapeta’s initial size estimate of an acre to up to 25 acres within five minutes, with Sapeta calling for evacuations to begin in the immediate area — specifically, for Wilkinson on the north side of Dam Road — shortly after his arrival.

At 1 p.m. Wednesday an online meeting of the Abandoned Vehicle Abatement Service Authority — which includes city and county representatives — was called to order.

District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon, who chairs the committee, handed over the running of the meeting to vice chair, Clearlake City Councilman Russell Perdock, saying he wanted to travel to Clearlake to get eyes on the fire. Simon said he’d spoken with Sapeta, who told him that firefighters were “getting their asses handed to them.”

Sapeta told Lake County News that, all told, 28 engines, five dozers, 10 overhead or management personnel, seven tankers, five helicopters and nine water tenders would respond to assist.

Firefighting resources came from fire agencies all over Lake County, as well as from Colusa, Marin — which sent two hand crews and an engine — as well as Mendocino and Sonoma counties, Sapeta said.

The Clearlake Police Department, California Highway Patrol and Lake County Sheriff’s Office were part of the response, evacuating the residents — in some cases running from door to door to get people out, according to radio traffic.

Sapeta said a local water company stepped up to help, with the cities of Clearlake and Lakeport and the county of Lake also sending water tenders from their respective water agencies.

Evacuees flee to safety

As the fire grew, evacuation orders for several zones in the county’s Zonehaven system were issued. Some county residents reported to Lake County News that they had issues using the Zonehaven website and that it crashed at one point.

Sapeta estimated 1,600 residents of Clearlake and Lower Lake were under evacuation orders or warnings at the height of the incident.

Of those, about 1,000 residents were still evacuated late Wednesday, Sapeta said.

An evacuation shelter was established at Kelseyville High School less than two hours after the fire started.

Sheriff Brian Martin told Lake County News on Wednesday night that 32 people were registered to stay there at that time.

Among those evacuating on Wednesday afternoon were two women, who identified themselves as Liz and Vicki, who Lake County News photographer Gemini Garcia encountered at the bus stop at Walmart.

They had been dropped there by an ambulance to wait for a ride to the evacuation center.

Liz said her home was burning as she left. She said she felt numb.

Many people who evacuated waited at Walmart, where employees gave them cold bottles of water.

People waited with pets in cages, not knowing when they would be able to return home.

Rescues, injuries and recovery

Two injuries have been confirmed during the incident. One was an elderly burn victim at the Cache Creek Mobile Home Park who was seriously injured. An ambulance was dispatched to the park at 1:46 p.m. Sapeta said the victim was later flown out of the county.

Then, just after 8:15 p.m., incident command reported that one firefighter was being sent to Adventist Health Clear Lake Hospital with a minor eye injury. Earlier in the day, the hospital had diverted all medical transports in response to the fire, according to radio reports.

Animal control officials and the Lake Evacuation and Animal Protection, or LEAP, group also were dispatched to the scene due to injured pets and livestock.

North Bay Animal Services reported on Facebook Wednesday that its officers had been responding to welfare calls on animals caught in the Cache fire, showing pictures of injured goats and a dog with singed fur transported to the Clearlake animal shelter for treatment.

Lake County Animal Care and Control said the phone lines for LEAP assistance would reopen at 8:25 a.m. Thursday. Call 707-263-0278 if you need help with animals in the evacuation zones.

Besides fully containing the fire, what’s ahead is more of what Lake County has endured repeatedly over the past decade — fire cleanup and rebuilding.

State Sen. Mike McGuire, who has been a key player in Lake County’s fire recovery, said in a Wednesday night Facebook post that the fire was “simply devastating.”

He added, “We’ll be working hand in hand with Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry, the City, County and neighbors on recovery and debris clean-up in the weeks to come.”

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

081821 Cache Fire Emergency Proclamation by LakeCoNews on Scribd