In the Upper Midwest, dry, mild weather is making life difficult for businesses that rely on abundant snow. Even as icy temperatures gripped the region over the past week, snowfall remained spotty - a feast in some locales, a famine elsewhere.

An Oregon school bus driver fired after he refused to remove a Confederate battle flag from his pickup truck filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday to get back his job.

An Oregon school bus driver fired after he refused to remove a Confederate battle flag flying from his pickup truck has enlisted the help of a conservative civil liberties group in hopes of getting his job back.

Ken Webber said he began displaying the Confederate flag in the bed of his pickup truck a year and a half ago after his father gave it to him for a birthday gift. He said his suspension violates his free speech rights.

Chicago received up to 19.5 inches of snow with more still possible, and Missouri as much as 1 1/2 feet. More than a foot dropped on northern Indiana and southeast Kansas, while Oklahoma saw as much as a foot.