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Mark Pachter, director of the National Portrait Gallery, finds a donor to help the Smithsonian Insitution purchase Gilbert Stuart's 1796 portrait of George Washington. His ability to raise more than $20 million for the effort is a tribute to the lasting appeal of an iconic image.

Liane reads from listener letters and e-mails.

Across the country, as the days gradually grow longer, gardeners are turning to pulling up weeds, putting in pansies and considering the world around them. Weekend Edition essayist Diane Roberts contemplates the view from her mother's garden in Tallahassee.

Liane Hansen speaks with guitarist/composer Ralph Towner, from the jazz/classical/world music group Oregon. After playing together for 30 years, the quartet has had collaborations with orchestras in the past, but only now has put their orchestral repertoire on disc:Oregon in Moscow (Intuition Records #3303) features the group performing with the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra. We'll also hear from producer Steve Rodby, who organized the Moscow project.

NPR's Guy Raz reports from the Balkans that Macedonian security forces and ethnic Albanian extremists continue to exchange gunfire today in northwest Macedonia. Also today, the commander of NATO-backed peacekeepers in neighboring Kosovo warned the rebels that allied troops would respond with force if any of their installations in the area were threatened.

NPR critic Bob Mondello reviews the latest film by novelist and screenwriter Roddy Doyle, the romantic comedy When Brendan Met Trudy.

NPR's Andy Bowers reports on the search for an adequate name for the current decade.

Though Slobodan Milosevic is no longer in power, Yugoslav society still deals with the effects of his 13-year rule. But as NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports, the political decay is inspring artists in Belgrade.

The corruption which enabled Soviet Georgia to flourish has led to economic ruin in the post-Soviet Republic of Georgia. And local traditions of defiant individualism and contempt for state authority are combining with high unemployment, street violence, and power outages to produce a near lawless state. NPR's Anne Garrels reports.

In New Mexico, a relative of Billy the Kid asked the Legislature to pardon the legendary outlaw after all these years. The Legislature turned him down. Essayist Kate Nelson agrees with the decision and keeps on rooting for the Kid.