GK: It's the 127th annual Winter Carnival in St. Paul, with a new queen Melissa Hoffbeck (SNOWMOBILE PASSING), and there she is going by on a snowmobile, and the Robotic Snowplow Competition at Rice Park was won by Chris Swarbrick. (ROBOT MOVING, ELECTRONIC GARBLED VOICE) Good job, Chris.

It's been good and cold, down to -36 in International Falls up on the Canadian border. Which has frozen the ice on Rainy Lake so that Canadians are now coming across on buses (SFX, BUS SHIFTING UP GEARS).

In this cold weather, there has been an increase in auto thefts, particularly of cars sitting at the curb, motor running, while the owners wait for them to warm up. (RUNNING FEET IN SNOW. FN "HEY COME BACK HERE" CAR REV AND PULL AWAY). Which means that some motorists have been forced to take public transportation. (BUS DOORS CLOSE, ACCEL) And run the risk of being spoken to by strange people. (FN: HEY, HOW YOU DOIN? COLD OUT, HUH? YOU WOULDN'T BE INTERESTED IN BUYING A WATCH WOULDJA? LOOKA THIS. DICK CHENEY WATCH. SEE? THAT'S HIM. WHEN YOU WIGGLE IT BACK AND FORTH, HE WAVES AT YOU. TELL YOU WHAT, I'M GONNA GIVE THIS TO YOU FOR $5. WHAT ABOUT IT?)

GK: The Ford Plant along the Mississippi River in St. Paul's Highland Park is going to be demolished this month. A HUNDRED and some acre tract of prime real estate that probably will be developed into housing and office park but is exactly the right size for (RACETRACK, CARS GOING BY FAST) ---- wouldn't that be great?

The historic St. Paul Athletic Club, which dates back to 1917, will reopen this month. The formal dining room where men used to meet for the two martini lunch (HEARTY MALE GIBBERISH) has been made into a cardio exercise room (MAN ON TREADMILL, PANTING) ---- and that's how times have changed.

As you drove in from Minneapolis, you probably saw the giant ski slide from the Cathedral on the hill and down to the river and that is not part of the Winter Carnival, that is the set for a movie called "Snowball Saves The Day" which they were shooting last week and it's about a boy named Little Jim who has a croupy cough (SFX) and his Mom and Dad have gone to a masked ball and left him alone and as they dance the night away (TANGO, SS & FN CRIES OF PLEASURE) the boy lies feverish in bed with only his cat Snowball to comfort him (MEOW).

TR (SICK BOY): I need the croup vaccine, Snowball. My mom was supposed to get it at the hospital but in her rush to put on her makeup, she plumb forgot.

GK: Meanwhile, a deadly blizzard strikes St. Paul (SFX) and the fast freight derails coming through town (WHISTLE, TRAIN DERAILING, LONG SCREECH) and the Ringling Brothers circus train (WHISTLE) bound for Baraboo is stopped by enormous snowdrifts (STEAM TRAIN TRYING TO PLOW THROUGH DEEP SNOW, STOPS, CRIES OF CIRCUS WORKERS) and the elephants are released (SFX) to try to push through the drifts but the elephants are unused to snow (SFX) and in the confusion the Siberian tigers escape (SFX) who know all about winter, being from Siberia, and their keen sense of smell leads them to the park where unsupervised children are playing (GLAD CRIES) and they climb on the tigers' backs (SFX) and ride out on the ice of the Mississippi where a mob of ignorant villagers (SFX) gather with flaming torches to rescue the children and that is when Snowball (MEOW) climbs onto the ski slide to get down to the Children's Hospital to get the croup vaccine and she doesn't realize how fast the ski slide is (CAT RACING AT 70 MPH DOWN LONG SKI SLIDE AND THEN FLYING) and she flies through the air over the hospital and onto the ice of the Mississippi and she skids along the ice (SFX) at high speed and scares the villagers (SFX) who run away and saves the tigers and then all the circus animals (HORSES, ELEPHANTS, SEALS) join to pack down the snow so the truck can come through (SFX) and carry Snowball up to the hospital for the vaccine (VOICES OF MEDICAL PEOPLE) and Snowball must now climb up the steep slide (SFX) to where Jimmy lies sick from the croup-----

TR (SICK BOY): I'm coming, Grandma. Coming to be with you and Gramps. It's so bright. All sunshiny. I hear music.

GK: --- and Snowball applies the vaccine (POP) just as Jimmy's mom comes home from the Masked Ball ----

SS (A LITTLE DRUNK): My little boy. You're feeling better, I see. So am I. (SINGS) Love your magic spell is everywhere......

GK: That's the gist of the movie. "Snowball Saves The Day". It's supposed to come out in July.