In their rush to see who can be the first to dig up dirt on Palin, the NY Times is reporting on a story that is three years old.

From the NY Times’ Palin e-mail live blog:

From Sept. 16, 2008:

(ABC News) — “It’s vetting gone haywire,” said Gov. Sarah Palin’s beleaguered press secretary, Bill McAllister, as he dealt with a new round of questions about the governor — this time about a tanning bed installed in the governor’s mansion in Juneau.

In the 2½ weeks since Palin was named to the GOP ticket, McAllister’s phone has been ringing off the hook from national reporters who have descended on the state to look into the background of the governor.

Monday, US Weekly and a blog, NarcoNews, reported that “the former beauty queen’s penchant for a bronzed body” led to the installation of a “private tanning bed” shortly after she took office.

“She paid for it herself,” said McAllister from his Anchorage office. He told ABC News he had “no idea” why she had installed the machine but confirmed it was installed in the mansion.

An online search showed tanning beds for sale at a wide range of prices, starting at around $1,000 and going as high as $35,000. McAllister said he did not know what Palin had paid for her tanning bed.