After quitting as Alaska governor, Sarah Palin has left few clues about her next move.

MCT / Marc Lester

It’s only a rumor and even the writer says in the article that it’s probably not true. But for anyone who hasn’t heard, the latest word on former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is that she’s moving to Rhode Island.

Yes, Rhode Island, the home of former U.S. Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee, who drew headlines last year for referring to Palin as a “cocky wacko.”

The Rhode Island rumor was reported Saturday by the Anchorage Daily News, in a column called the Alaska Ear, which said the gossip is that Palin has “finally decided” what she is going to do with the rest of her life. Her plan, the column said, is to settle “in Rhode Island (Huh?) with $7 million from her book and a contract with FOX.”

“And, oh yes,” the column added, “she’s never running for office again.”

The column goes out of its way to stress that this is only a rumor, the latest of many.

“Ear doesn’t vouch for any of this so please don’t write to complain about how it’s just another silly rumor,” the column says. “Of course it’s not true (probably) but it’s not untruer than all the other stuff being written.”

The rumor that Palin might move from the nation’s largest state, geographically speaking, to its smallest seemed to catch Rhode Island Republican Party Chairman Giovanni Cicione by surprise.

“We would certainly welcome her,” Cicione said. But he also questioned why she would want to come — given the Ocean State’s Democratic leanings.

“Anyone who wants to move to Rhode Island, we would have to question their sanity,” he said.

The rumor is just the latest of many since Palin resigned as Alaska governor, said Pat Dougherty, the Daily News’ senior vice president and editor.

“There has been all kinds of speculation and rumors about what she would do next, and so our column has found it amusing to follow and note some of the rumors that seem to have currency from week to week,” he said.

He described the Alaska Ear, which appears online and in the newspaper’s print edition on Sundays, as a “tongue-in-cheek gossip column.”

“It’s extremely well read,” he said.

A call and an e-mail to Palin’s political action committee were not returned Wednesday.

redgar@projo.com