Illinois was almost No. 1

Gus Philpott, The Woodstock Advocate
21 May 2016 (10:00 AM)

Illinois was in the top three and so close to being No. 1.

A news article on AOL Finance reported that Illinois was No. 3 - in states that people are moving FROM.

No surprise there.

No. 1 was Hawaii with an outflow of 62.0%
No. 2 was New York, 61.8%
No. 3 was Illinois, at 61.7%

Are you thinking of moving out?

Why not?

Just what is it, exactly, that keeps you in Illinois? Think it through.

A day doesn't pass that I'm not glad about being gone from Illinois.

I recall my first morning in Woodstock, when I found the "Greetings" (Welcome to Woodstock. Pay $5 for parking on our street overnight) that I had committed the enormous sin of parking overnight on a Woodstock street. No matter that there were no signs at the city limit to warn me of that stupid law (which is still on the books and sometimes enforced, and sometimes not).

I've always thought that a warning notice would have been much more welcoming - something that informed me of the ordinance. Something that perhaps read, "We noticed your out-of-state plates. Welcome to Woodstock. Be aware that overnight street parking is prohibited. Please call the Woodstock Police Department for more information."

And I remember the day I got stopped for a traffic violation that actually was not a violation. The officer had to issue me a Warning because of Departmental racial-profiling rules (to prove that a white guy got stopped every once in a while (in my own words, not his)). I challenged the warning, and an Assistant City Attorney issued a dumb letter to the City Manager, writing in five paragraphs that my turn was not a violation, and then "therefore it is a violation". I ended up getting two State troopers, who had been trainers at the State Police Academy, to explain the law to the then-Chief of the Woodstock PD (not Robert Lowen).

And I'll long remember the January night I got stopped for a burned-out headlight. The officer was going to write me a warning. It had been out for 15 minutes and 10 miles, and I planned to have it repaired the following morning. The first officer started to issue a warning, and then a second officer showed up and reminded him of the standing order at the P.D. that "If Philpott gets stopped, he gets a ticket, not a warning."

And the best of all - the $100 Bounty on me at the Sheriff's Department. And I know who offered it. No one collected.