Jonas Mekas, an underground filmmaker whose influence looms as large as the archives he helped create, died Wednesday morning at the age of 96. The Lithuanian-born director, critic, archivist and poet died "peacefully at home, with family at his side," according to the Anthology Film Archives that he co-founded.

The organization did not specify the cause of his death.

About a year ago, Dr. Ako Jacintho of San Francisco returned home from traveling to find a letter from the state medical board waiting for him.

The letter explained that a patient he had treated died in 2012 from taking a toxic cocktail of methadone and Benadryl — and Jacintho was the doctor who wrote the patient's last prescription for methadone. He had two weeks to respond with a written summary of the care he had provided, and a certified copy of the patient's medical record. He faced fines of $1,000 per day if he didn't comply.

Updated at 4:15 p.m. ET

President Trump promised to find an alternative setting for his State of the Union speech, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted he could not speak on the House floor until a partial government shutdown is over.

The president and the speaker traded barbed letters Wednesday, with Trump initially saying he wanted to deliver the speech next Tuesday in the House chamber — the traditional location.

Should the U.S. require its citizens to perform public service? Should its young women register for the draft?

A federal panel says it is working on answers to those questions — and is considering how the nation could implement a universal service program and whether it should be mandatory or optional.

Updated at 4 p.m. ET

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó declared himself the country's interim president amid nationwide protests Wednesday, in a bid to seize power from sitting leader Nicolás Maduro.

Updated at 2:44 p.m. ET

Police in Phoenix say they have arrested a man suspected of assaulting and impregnating an incapacitated woman who gave birth at a long-term care facility.

Nathan Sutherland, 36, a licensed practical nurse has been charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse, according to officials who made the announcement at a news conference Wednesday.

MARQUETTE, MI--   The Upper Peninsula Children’s Museum wants to help federal employees affected by the partial government shutdown. 

Museum Director Nheena Weyer-Ittner says federal workers who are furloughed and their families can go to the Children’s Museum free of charge, as often as they like, until the shutdown is over.

She adds parents of children who have birthdays during the furlough can also get help to throw a party.

HOUGHTON, MI (AP)--   Conservation officers are conducting snowmobile patrols in the Upper Peninsula to promote safety and enforce state laws. 

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources says weekend patrols started Jan. 11 along the state-managed trail system in Houghton County and on Jan. 12 in Ontonagon County.

The patrols continue as the DNR says police agencies in the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula investigated the deaths Friday of two snowmobilers in Gogebic County and one each in Luce, Alger and Kalkaska counties.