By Community Alliance staff
Longtime friend and activist Camille Russell and contributor Tom Frantz were honored by the Community Alliance during our fundraiser on Dec. 12.
Tom Frantz 
Camille Russell
Russell, a retired teacher, received the Super Supporter award. She has been active in our community and is a leader in Peace Fresno, which has hosts antiwar demonstrations and educates the public about the cost of war. She supports organizations including the Fresno Center for Nonviolence and the KFCF radio station and was a member of the Community Alliance newspaper’s editorial board for several years. She helps pass out copies of the Community Alliance at many meetings and events and distributes the paper each month.
Her longtime partner, Dan Yassen, accepted the honor on Russell’s behalf as she was in the hospital on the day of the fundraiser.
After years of contributing with his column “Clearing the Air,” writer Tom Frantz published his last piece in this edition (see page 5). He is retiring and leaving the San Joaquin Valley for good.
Frantz’s work was well summarized by fellow journalist Vic Bedoian, “Tom Frantz is a reporter’s best friend. He’s a perceptive observer, a scientist and a persistent watchdog, with a bark and a bite.
“Tom’s deep dive into the Valley’s toxic air and its causes has educated readers of the Community Alliance for years with his incisive articles. He has also been an invaluable resource for journalists covering the powerful oil industry and natural resource issues. His investigative skills are awesome. His perceptive eyes miss nothing.
“Tom scours Kern County like a bloodhound, exposing environmental degradation, then tells all of us about it. And he has the courage to hold accountable industry executives and government regulators alike. In fact, Tom Frantz is, himself, a natural resource who nourishes and sustains our quest for the truth.”
