Pillsbury's past

 

At its peak in the years after World War II, 1,500 people worked at the Pillsbury Mills plant at Fifteenth and Phillips streets. Since Cargill Corp. closed the facility in 2001, there have been off-and-on demolition and salvage operations at the site and it has devolved into a dangerous eyesore, neighbors say. 

Leaving Bel-Aire

 

Residents of the Bel-Aire Motel learned this week they have fewer than 60 days to find new homes. Mayor Mike Houston estimated there were 15 to 20 residents, but property manager Dominic Marando said Friday the number was more like 50 to 60. Some residents appeared to be removing their belongings on Friday. Many of the others have no idea where they will go.

Birds of a feather

 

Pigeons are city birds. At home among the tall buildings, they make a mess of things where they gather in large numbers. But their synchronized movement can be mesmerizing to watch, like a school of fish in the air. What looks like an aerial performance from the ground is an act of self-preservation, defense against their urban enemies, the Red-tailed and Cooper’s hawks and peregrine falcons that also live downtown. Here’s a look at some their recent flights. 

Friends in need

 

“It’s kind of hard with buying medicine to have anything left over to buy food,” says Phyllis White, who lives in Auburn with her husband Ralph and their son and granddaughter, and their cat Tiger. The Whites will receive assistance with the food for Christmas from the Friend-in-Deed program. 

Few options for parolees

 

In the two months following his release this year from prison on a drug charge, Clarence Hopson stayed at Adulthood Transition Center, a home for parolees on South 11th Street. It's one of the four options in Springfield for prison parolees who have nowhere else to go.

The race to harvest

 

Casey and Patrick Norris, who own Norris Farm, harvest corn near Waverly, Illinois. Like many central Illinois farmers, they're seeing record yields after a summer of ideal growing conditions.

Juneteenth

 

Springfield’s annual Juneteenth celebration is held every Father’s Day in Comer Cox Park.

D-Day anniversary

 

Korean War veteran George Pempek, left, World War II veteran of the Pacific theater James Hofstetter and Joe Flynn, who landed at Omaha Beach during the D-Day invasion, were among the several veterans honored during a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Allied invasion at Normandy, France. The event took place at the Illinois World War II Memorial in Oak Ridge Cemetery. 

Veteran flyer

 

Art Grube, a veteran of the Army Air Corp during World War II who served as pilot or co-pilot on 35 missions over Europe, flew on the Aluminum Overcast, a World War II Boeing B-17 bomber Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013. In the service, Grube flew the B-24 and said this was his first time on the B-17, but there were plenty of similarities. "I thought it was a very good," he said of the flight.

History revealed

 

Behind a brick facade unchanged for nearly a century is a piece of Springfield history. A former downtown hotel, closed for decades and abandoned, and a former print shop is the future home of a children's museum. 

Fair and Square