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Ethnic Albanians eyeing independence flocked to the polls today in Kosovo's first free election since the end of Yugoslav rule. Minority Serbs boycotted the ballot. Despite the combination of heavy turnout and confusion over election rules, there was no violence at polling stations. NPR's Anne Garrels visited several polling stations in Pristina. She speaks with host Lisa Simeone.

Commentator Lee Stringer is trying to keep his optimism about American democracy. So this year, he's avoiding coverage of the presidential race.

This year, Peg Collison joined tens of thousands of older Americans in making the move from her home of almost thirty years into a retirement community. She had planned for the move, saving her money and taking out long-term health insurance. Still, her decision to move was difficult for her family, her friends and herself. As part of our series on the Changing Face of America, Peg Collison and her son, radio producer Dan Collison, produced a three part series on her transition. It's called Mom's Good Move.

Secretary of State Madeline Albright says six hours of talks with North Korean officials over the past two days produced "important progress," in U.S. relations with the Communist country, but that more work remains to be done. The major issue for the United States is obtaining commitments from North Korea to curb its missile program. NPR's Rob Gifford reports from Pyongyang.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Jerusalem reports Israel's military sees no quick end to the latest Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and Gaza. With little chance for an early resumption of the peace process, Prime Minister Ehud Barak has ordered his aides to draw up plans for what he calls a "unilateral separation" from the Palestinians.

Host Rene Montagne talks with author Mark Salzman about his new book Lying Awake. Salzman's earlier works have dealt with teenage Buddhists in suburbia and failed child prodigies. In this latest book, he brings to life a modern-day nun who's religious visions turn out to have a devastatingly mundane source.

Noah talks with Douglas Broderick of the Wold Food Program in Pyongyang about the famine in North Korea. The threat of famine and starvation has been present in the country since the mid 1990's. Nearly one-tenth of the population died as a result. WFP feeds some eight-million North Koreans, who are still struggling with droughts and the loss of farming support from the former Soviet Union.

Steve Young of Vermont Public Radio reports on the turmoil in that state's politics, since the state legislature voted to approve civil unions. Governor Howard Dean, a once-popular Democrat who had been a shoo-in for re-election, has come under heavy criticism from an anti-civil union movement called "Take Back Vermont." Even if Dean survives, his fellow Democrats in the legislature, who constitute a majority, may not. The anger may last beyond Election Day.

A sailor who died in the suspected terrorist bombing of the U.S.S. Cole will be buried at Antietam National Cemetery -- a Civil War cemetery that has been closed since the Korean War. The National Park Service agreed to make an exception for Fireman Apprentice Patrick Roy, whose family lives near the site. Noah interviews John Howard, Superintendent of the Antietam National Battlefield, in Sharpsburg, Maryland.

Commentator Carol Wasserman observes two apple orchards on opposing sides of a street near her home. They have nearly identical products -- and a long-simmering hatred for each other.