Extreme Measures | The Continuing Crisis

David Ostrom, 40, and his ex-wife, Bridgette Ostrom, 38, have been tussling over custody and visitation issues and property taxes for some time, but a frustrated David, of Paola, Kansas, has come up with a unique way of settling their differences.

He has challenged his ex, of Harlan, Iowa, and her attorney, Matthew Hudson, to a trial by combat and asked the Iowa District Court in Shelby County to let them "resolve our disputes on the field of battle, legally," the Des Moines Register reported.

In court documents, Ostrom claims such a trial "has never been explicitly banned or restricted as a right in these United States."

Ostrom also asked for 12 weeks to secure some Japanese samurai swords.

Hudson, for his part, argued that the fight could end in a death, and "such ramifications likely outweigh those of property tax and custody issues."

At press time, the court had not ruled on the motions. [Des Moines Register, 1/14/2020]

• In Mexico City, Mexico, on any given day, 22 of the 467 escalators at subway stations are broken down, reports the Associated Press, and on Jan. 14 Metro authorities published a list of causes, including "corrosion due to urine" among the top five.

Fermin Ramirez, assistant manager for rails and facilities, said he's concluded that riders urinate on the escalators in off-peak hours or at lightly used stations -- "even though it seems hard to believe."

"When we open up escalators for maintenance, there is always urine," Ramirez noted.

Twitter users pushed back, noting that there are no restroom facilities in most Metro stations.

The Mexico City subway provides 1.6 billion rides per year -- the eighth largest in the world by some measures. [Associated Press, 1/15/2020]