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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Palin per diem tax review urged

Gov. Sarah Palin’s practice of charging the state when she stays in her home must be reviewed to determine if she should pay taxes on the payments, state Finance Director Kim Garnero said Tuesday.

Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, released two years’ worth of tax returns last week that did not list the per diem payments she received since becoming Alaska governor in December 2006. She collected nearly $17,000 during that period for 312 nights spent in her Wasilla home about an hour’s drive from Anchorage, according to state travel records.

Palin listed 157 days spent in Anchorage during 2007 on her travel forms. Garnero said Palin’s workplace as governor is considered to be Juneau, so she filed for the per diem payments when she stayed at her home in Wasilla.

Greenville, S.C.

Hundreds arrested at processing plant

More than 300 suspected illegal immigrants were arrested Tuesday at a chicken processing plant near Greenville, S.C. – the latest in a stepped-up federal enforcement effort that has resulted in the deportation of thousands of illegal workers in recent months.

Tuesday’s raid was led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, and involved hundreds of agents from numerous agencies. The target was Columbia Farms, a processing plant that had been the subject of a 10-month criminal investigation.

Workplace raids like the one at Columbia Farms have become increasingly common toward the end of the Bush administration. Critics decry what they contend is the rough treatment of illegal immigrants.

From wire reports