The Observer, November 16, 2007
Volume XL, Issue 11
News You Can't Use
Iowa woman takes out ad to sell her breast milk
A woman determined not to let her breast milk go to waste has taken out a newspaper ad in hopes of selling it.
Martha Heller, 22, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, took out an ad in The Gazette, offering 100 ounces of her breast milk for $200 or the best offer.
Hellerâ€'s daughter, born in August, refuses to drink from a bottle, and the breast milk Heller has pumped since that time is piling up in the freezer.
Heller now donates to the University of Iowaâ€'s Motherâ€'s Milk Bank, but the milk she wants to sell was pumped before she went through screening for the bank and therefore canâ€'t be donated.
After researching laws regarding the sale of breast milk, Heller is convinced her newspaper ad is legal.
Don McCormick, spokesman for the Iowa Department of Public Health, said he was not aware of any legal issues with the sale of breast milk, but state officials advise against it.
Heller has received very few illegitimate phone calls about the ad: â€"There was one prank caller,â€" she said.
Three-year-old boy finds woolly mammoth tooth
When his grandson pointed out an unusual-looking rock last week in local property, Gary Kidd immediately recognized the object as the tooth of a woolly mammoth. Thatâ€'s because he had found a tooth himself nine years ago.
Kaleb Kidd, 3, of La Crosse, Wis., was chasing squirrels last week at a family friendâ€'s property when he spotted what looked like an unusual rock.
â€"Grandpa, whatâ€'s that?â€" Kaleb asked.
He told his grandson it looked like the tooth of the extinct woolly mammoth.
The pair then visited the Mississippi Valley Archeology Center at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, which confirmed Gary Kiddâ€'s hypothesis.
Connie Arzigian, the centerâ€'s lab director, said the two-pound, six-inch long, three-inch wide tooth could be between 10,000 and 30,000 years old.
This tooth is in better shape than the last tooth Gary Kidd found, which was at the bottom of the Mississippi River while he was clamming.
The center already has a woolly mammoth tooth in its collection, but itâ€'s always fun to see someone discover another one, Arzigian said.
â€"Itâ€'s wonderful to get an idea of what was here in the past,â€" she said.
For now, the tooth is on display at Satori Arts Gallery, much to Kalebâ€'s dismay.
â€"When we dropped it down at the art gallery, he was crying. He didnâ€'t want to let it go,â€" his granddad said. â€"At first he thought it was just a rock. Now heâ€'s all excited.â€"
