NEWS LITE : CARTER CELEBRATES AMONG FRIENDS.

On his 75th birthday Friday in Plains, Ga., the town where he was born, former President Jimmy Carter was all smiles.

He grinned broadly as schoolchildren serenaded him with ``Happy Birthday'' at the national historic site that bears his name. He beamed as celebrities such as Pat Boone, the Indigo Girls, the McGuire Sisters and Sam Donaldson of ABC News honored him during a black-tie birthday party in nearby Americus, where a giant birthday cake blocked a downtown street.

The state's most prominent resident and Georgia's 76th governor seemed happiest, though, when he talked about his enduring relationship with his neighbors in Plains, a southwest Georgia town of 712 people. It's a hometown that has repeatedly sent him off to wage political battle and, more important, has always welcomed him home - win or lose.

``It's just been overwhelming,'' Carter said of the affection he has felt in Plains as his milestone birthday approached. ``The friendship and support, I have to say, are typical of what the folks around here have always extended to me. . .''

``The intimacy with which I grew up as a boy here among these same folks has been continued and even expanded,'' he said during a private interview at the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, the former Plains High School. ``Our life has been here in Plains. This has always been my home.''

Entering his fourth quarter-century, Carter seems to have made peace with his political enemies, in Plains and elsewhere. He said he consults frequently with former President Ford, whom he defeated in 1976, on ways to repair what he called the ``really sad'' state of American politics. He spoke wistfully of how he and former President Reagan, who denied Carter a second term in 1980, referred to each other as ``my distinguished opponent.''

McCartney's days become brighter

Paul McCartney said Friday that he has emerged from a long period of grief following the death of his wife and his days have finally become brighter.

McCartney, 57, told the British news agency Press Association that he did very little in the 12 months immediately following the death of Linda McCartney in April 1998 of breast cancer. McCartney said he believed his wife would not have wanted him to grieve for her beyond six months.

Ventura bites; hand did not feed him

The national chairman of the Reform Party asked its highest elected official, Gov. Jesse Ventura, to quit the party on Friday because of the ex-wrestler's controversial interview with Playboy magazine.

In a letter to the governor, party Chairman Russ Verney criticized Ventura for his comments about religion, sexual assault, fat people, drugs, prostitution and women's undergarments, among other things.

``You have brought shame to yourself and disgrace to the members of the Reform Party,'' Verney wrote.

In taped comments for NBC's ``Meet the Press'' to be aired Sunday, Ventura dismissed Verney's request because the national party ``did virtually nothing to help me to win the election here.''

Founding fathers favored on bills

Look closely at your cash. Isn't Andrew Jackson sexier than he used to be?

Has Ulysses S. Grant been sneaking Grecian Formula and using just a little anti-wrinkle cream?

And Ben Franklin - whoa! U.S. currency officials say Franklin's enlarged image on the recently redesigned $100 bills was based on a portrait done when he was nearly 80, about the same age as he was on the old bills. Somewhere along the way he dropped 20 pounds and regrew some hair.

Next year the federal government's Currency Redesign Project will unveil $10 and $5 bills with larger faces of Alexander Hamilton and Abraham Lincoln. Watch out, GQ.

Our forefathers seem to be fitter, less ancient and more intriguing these days.

The changes are not radical, but they are enough to cause some to wonder. Ernest Lissabet, public affairs manager for the Seniors Coalition advocacy group in Washington, was only half-joking when he said, ``These portraits serve as yet more evidence of the incredible obsession our society has for youth.''

Not so, says the engraver, Thomas Hipschen. Some engravings on the old bills were based on miniatures and reproductions of paintings, whereas Hipschen's were based on original sources.

``Franklin was a vibrant character, and I wanted him to look vibrant,'' said Hipschen, who works for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

He already has finished Lincoln's new image, which was etched from a different portrait than the one now on the $5 bill. The engraver could not disclose any details before the bill's release.

Hipschen said he had heard good and bad comments. Some have told him that the new Franklin resembles Jack Benny with locks, while the new Jackson looks ``slick.''

``I did smooth out a few warts here and there, but I didn't want (Jackson) to look slick,'' he said.

Hipschen's aim, he said, was to make the faces as real, bold and enigmatic as their personalities.

Since launching the Currency Redesign Project in the mid-1990s, officials have stressed that the larger, off-center portraits and all other design changes are needed to incorporate anti-counterfeiting measures.

``We were not looking for aesthetic values per se,'' task force director Thomas Ferguson said upon the release of new $50 bills last year.

Or, perhaps, they paid heed to what Franklin himself once wrote of great people: ``All would live long, but none would be old.''

Scottish aristocrat buys back chair

A Scottish aristocrat whose ancestors lent a chair from their castle to Bonnie Prince Charlie on his way to fight the English in 1746 bought it back last month for $11,500.

``We will be a bit more careful before we lend anything again, if it takes 250 years to get it back again,'' commented Lord Doune, son of the 20th Earl of Moray.

He bought the oak chair to take back to the family's ancestral home, Darnaway Castle, near the village of Forres in the Scottish Highlands.

Sotheby's, which auctioned the chair in Billingshurst, England, 70 miles south of London, said the armchair had a letter dated 1895 pinned to the underside and signed by the provost, or chief official, of Forres, explaining its history.

According to the letter, the Scottish rebel Prince Charles Edward Stuart, aka Bonnie Prince Charlie, stopped at a tavern in Forres on his way to the Battle of Cullodon, which ended in defeat by the English army and his flight into exile.

None of the tavern chairs was deemed grand enough for royal use, so the innkeeper borrowed a chair from Darnaway Castle - and failed to return it, said Sotheby's spokeswoman Rachel Aked.

An antiques dealer bought the chair for less than $1,700 this summer without knowing its history. He only noticed the letter when he later examined the chair.

``It's by far the nicest thing we've ever had because of its connections,'' said dealer Roger Banfield. ``We did all take turns sitting in it and giving orders.''

OVERHEARD

``Group similar objects together.''

From a list of ``Home Organizing Tips'' proclaimed by the National Association of Professional Organizers for Get Organized Week

News Lite is compiled from Daily News staff and wire reports.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1) IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE . . .

Katie Kaiser, 4, puts the finishing touches on a snowman on the front lawn of her Marshall, Minn., home Friday.

Kelly Klumper/Associated Press

(2) CARTER