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Dedication and hard work really can make childhood dreams come true. We meet international musician Amit Peled. He plays the cello once owned by Pablo…

Seattle’s Chinatown International District is a bustling, pan-Asian neighborhood of immigrants from China, Japan, Vietnam, and The Philippines. It’s also…

Fulks and Lewis come from different generations, but both play the old style of country music — her brother is Jerry Lee Lewis. They share songs and stories from their new album, Wild! Wild! Wild!

Novelist and screenwriter RICHARD PRICE. His screenwriting credits include "the Color of Money," "Sea of Love," and Martin Scorcese's section of "New York Stories," and now, "Clockers." He co-wrote the screenplay with Spike Lee. His novel "Clockers" is a murder mystery set in the world of a crack dealer in New Jersey. Christopher Lehmann-Haupt of The New York times writes "the signal achievement of the book "Clockers" is to make us feel the enormous power of these giants that are drugs, alcoholism, poverty." (published by Houghton Mifflin). (REBROADCAST from

Oregon Public Radio's Ley Garnett (LEE gar-NET) reports on the worst flooding to hit the western part of the state in 30 years. The Wilamette and Columbia Rivers are expected to crest in Portland at record levels tonight as citizens battle to shore up the riverbanks and save new developments.(6:30) -b- 8. BOSNIA. Noah talks with NPR's Andy Bowers in Sarajevo. They discuss the arrest of Bosnian Serb officers and response by Serbs to quit dealing with the Muslim-led Bosnian government and to halt contact with the NATO peace mission, Also, Richard Holbrooke, U-S Assistant Secretary of Sate, is being sent to Sarajevo Sunday to help the sides start talking again.

Linda talks with Vice President Al Gore and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Chief James Lee Witt about what they've seen as they tour the flood-ravaged Ohio River Valley, and what FEMA is doing to help the region recover. Waters levels continued to rise today in what's been the worst flooding along the Ohio River in three decades. Thousands have been forced from their homes and businesses, and President Clinton has declared dozens of counties in Ohio and Kentucky disaster areas.

Jazz bassist CHARLIE HADEN. He's released his fifth album with his Quartet West, "Now is the Hour," (Verve). HADEN formed the quartet to play the music of the 1940s and early 50s. He's worked with jazz musicians Art Pepper, Paul Bley, Ornette Coleman. And he's recorded with many artists including Abbey Lincoln, Bill Frisell, Joshua Redman, Rick Lee Jones, and others. Last year HADEN released a much regarded album of spirituals with pianist Hank Jones, "Steal Away--Spirituals, Hymns and Folk Songs." (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE

The new minimum wage bill has knocked out a provision which has given tax breaks to US corportations in Puerto Rico. The blow to the island's economy could irreparable. Robert talks with Elias Gutierrez (eh-lee-AHSS goot-YERR-ez), the President of Corplan (corr-PLAHN), a consulting firm in San Juan that tracks industrial capability and output in Puerto Rico, about what options are left open to the island's workers, business-owners, and investors.

Robert speaks with Natan Sharansky (nah-TAHN shah-RAN-skee), Israeli Minister of Industry and Trade and the leader of the Yisrael Ba'Aliya (yis-rai-ELL bah-ah-lee-YAH) Party, about yesterday's 11-7 Israeli Cabinet vote to endorse the Hebron agreement. Although the party's votes were split, Sharansky says that Yisrael Ba'Aliya is the party of the center and has a special role in helping to build a consenus among Israelis. The former Russian dissident also says that both Palestinians and Jewish settlers in Hebron must accept the tough truth that they will have to make compromises.

NPR's Barbara Mantel has the first in a series of reports on student teacher Lea Ricci (LEE-uh RICH-ee), a student teacher at Fordham College who begins her first week of student teaching at Emerson High School in Yonkers, New York. Ricci will be paired with an experienced teacher at Emerson, and she says she's looking forward to learning from a teacher who's already worked with kids. But she's also hoping to try out some of her ideas about getting the kids involved in exciting, hands-on teaching methods, and wonders whether the reality of the classroom will accommodate her ideas about teaching.

In 2000, saxophonist Joe Lovano was voted Down Beat Readers and Critics Poll Winner Tenor Player of the Year. Early in his career, Lovano played with Woody Herman and the Mel Lewis Orchestra. He's also worked with Elvin Jones, Carla Bley, Lee Konitz and Charlie Haden. And he played with the Paul Motian Trio which featured his Berklee School of music classmate, Bill Frisell. In 1991 he began work as a leader, and has recorded a number of albums. His latest is Flights of Fancy: Trio Fascination, Edition Two.

Nearly 500 protesters held a recent rally outside the Washington, D.C. home of Debra Lee, chairperson of cable network BET. The protesters expressed discontent with what they called the "derogatory images of black men and women" portrayed by the network. BET's most recent scrutiny stems from a controversial public service announcement (PSA). The creator of the ad, Bomani "D'Mite" Armah, responds to his critics.

After watching a pirated copy of Rambo: First Blood, two British boys make a home-video action flick. The two form a tenuous friendship, tested by one boy's religious affiliation and the pressures of growing up.

Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird is in the news again. The city of Chicago has chosen the 1960 classic for The Chicago reading initiative "One Book, One Chicago." The same day Chicago announced the selection, Muskogee High School in Oklahoma removed the book from its required reading list for freshmen. Guest host Melissa Block talks with Mary Dempsey, commissioner for the Chicago Public Library, and Muriel Saunders, a member of the Muskogee School Board in Oklahoma, about the decisions made by both cities. We also hear excerpts from the audio version of the book as narrated by Sally Darling and produced by Recorded Books.

Fresh Air's book critic looks back at a busy year and selects the books that linger in memory as the calendar page turns. Her favorite fiction included Richard Russo's Bridge of Sighs, Min Jin Lee's Free Food for Millionaires, and Last Night at the Lobster, by Stewart O'Nan.

British novelist Lee Child takes his maverick hero Jack Reacher back to 1990 in The Enemy, the eighth book in his best-selling series. Child talks to NPR's Linda Wertheimer in the second of a three-part series on mystery writers.

NPR's David Welna reports from Quito (KEE-toh) that Ecuador still has not resolved its political crisis, despite a weekend deal brokered by the armed forces. Beleaguered President Abdala Bucaram (ahb-dah-LA boo-kah-RAHM) has been forced out of office, and Vice President Rosalia Arteaga (rohz-ah-LEE-ah ar-tay-AH-gah) has been sworn in as interim president. But Arteaga is suggesting she might stay in office for an extended period of time, a move which would touch off another showdown with that nation's Congress, which is expected to select a new president tomorrow.

Rathert's (WRATH-urts) clothing has been serving the tiny southern Illinois farming community of Red Bud since 1887...and its wooden shelves are mostly filled with provisions from Levi-Strauss (LEE-veye STROWSS). But the nation's original dry goods purveyor decided recently that Don Rathert's rickety store didn't meet its criteria for the proper "retail environment." When the public found out, it responded with angry letters, e-mails, and threats of a boycott...and the company that manufactures Levi's bluejeans changed its mind. Jim Dryden reports.

She's currently starring in the film adaptation of "Chicago" as Mama, a no-nonsense prison warden. She also has a new CD, "She's a Queen: A Collection of Hits" (Motown). At the age of 19, Latifah was the first female solo rapper to have a major record deal. She also had breakthrough roles in TV's "Living Single" and in Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever" and had a leading role in the film "Living Out Loud." Latifah is the author of the memoir "Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman." (REBROADCAST from 3/15/99)

NPR's Fred Child takes the stage with the young Jupiter Quartet: violinists Meg Freivogel and Nelson Lee, Liz Freivogel (Meg's sister) on viola and Daniel McDonough on cello. They discuss and perform music by Joseph Haydn and Felix Mendelssohn.