Monowi's peak years were in the 1930s, when it had a population of 150. Like many other small communities in the Great Plains, it lost its younger residents to cities that were experiencing growth and offering better jobs. During the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 2; only one married couple, Rudy and Elsie Eiler, lived there. Mr. Eiler died in 2004, leaving his wife as the only remaining resident. In this capacity, she acts as mayor, granting herself a liquor license and paying taxes to herself. She is required to produce a municipal road plan every year in order to secure state funding for the village's four street lights.
Although the village is nearly abandoned, it does have the 5,000-volume Rudy's Library, founded in memory of Mr. Eiler and maintained by Mrs. Eiler. In addition, Mrs. Eiler runs a tavern in Monowi and draws regular customers from as far as 80 miles away.
The village has a total area of 0.2 square miles (0.52 km2), all land.
Everyone wants to be number 1 at something...this way she's number one at *everything* at her town. She gave herself a liquor license...can she legalize marijuana within her village?
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that she can not legalize it, but can have the laws not be enforced.
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