NEW YORK – Hundreds of Michael Jackson fans circled the block around Harlem's famed Apollo Theater Tuesday for a public tribute to the pop star, some spontaneously singing their favorite songs and dancing in the street.
"I thought that in my time I'd have the opportunity to see him in concert," said Victoria Campomames, who did a brief moonwalk on the sidewalk as "Rock With You" played from a nearby store. "This is about the closest I'm gonna get."
Campomames, wearing a Jackson-style spangled black jacket, fedora and white gloves, took the day off from her job at a grocery store in Morrisville, Vt., for the all-day tribute to Jackson at the fabled venue that helped make him a star.
Thousands were expected to pay their respects at the theater, which planned to let them in 600 at a time to listen to his music, watch a video tribute and leave flowers and memorabilia.
The event was set to start at 2 p.m., but many people were already waiting Tuesday morning, dancing as they lined up with T-shirts, posters, album covers and other mementoes.
Ebony Johnson, 19, arrived at midnight to secure a spot near the front of the line, clutching a Jackson scrapbook she started when she was 14. An image of the star was tattooed on her left arm. She said she got the tattoo last month in anticipation of his planned comeback shows in London.
"I love him so much — I can't explain that in words," she said. "I felt like Michael was my family."
Fans wrote messages on a wall of remembrance outside the 125th street theater. "God bless and be with you M. Jackson," wrote one fan. "We all share your grief. Love always," read a message to his family.
Fans began converging on the Apollo soon after Jackson died Thursday in Los Angeles. It has continued to serve as an impromptu memorial site in the days since.
The pop icon's ties to the theater go back to 1967, when The Jackson 5 won the Apollo's Amateur Night contest. The appearance is credited with helping to launch the brother act's career, which later propelled Jackson to solo stardom.
Jackson last appeared at the Apollo in 2002, invited by former President Bill Clinton for a Democratic National Committee fundraiser.
Tuesday's salute was to begin with a eulogy by the Rev. Al Sharpton. A moment of silence was planned for 5:26 p.m., the time East Coast fans learned that Jackson had died.
The Apollo also played a role in remembrances for James Brown after his death in 2006, hosting a public viewing of the "Godfather of Soul" for thousands of fans.

WASHINGTON – The Treasury Department said Tuesday that it has approved three more firms for its mortgage relief program.
The new approvals brought the number of companies participating in the mortgage effort to 23 with the total amount authorized for all of the firms rising to $17.98 billion out of a maximum of $50 billion the government has said it could spend on this program.
The money is being provided to support the government's effort to combat a wave of mortgage foreclosures by giving incentives for homeowners to modify their existing mortgages.
The new approvals for this program included National City Bank of Miamisburg, Ohio; Technology Credit Union of San Jose, Calif., and Citizens First Wholesale Mortgage Co. of The Villages, Fla.
The government also confirmed Tuesday that Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. had become the first among a group of six major life insurers to get assistance from the government's $700 billion financial rescue fund.
Hartford won approval in May from the government to gain access to the bailout program. The six companies had sought federal aid in the wake of major investment losses resulting from the financial market turmoil of last fall.
Hartford announced the federal support on Friday, but under the rules that govern the bailout program, Treasury has two business days to acknowledge transactions involving the fund.
The $3.4 billion in support provided to Hartford was by far the largest award on Tuesday. In addition, a group of 15 smaller banks received $226 million from the rescue fund bringing the total in support to $203.2 billion.
Last week, Treasury established a process for pricing billions of dollars worth of warrants that banks much repurchase from the government to exit the bailout program. Treasury said that the banks can make the first offer of a purchase price and then Treasury will decide whether to accept that offer or make a counteroffer.

Matryoshkas date from 1890, and are said to have been inspired by souvenir dolls from Japan. However, the concept of nested objects was familiar in Russia, having been applied to carved wooden apples and Easter eggs; the first Fabergé egg, in 1885, had a nesting of egg, yolk, hen, and chick.

Modern artists create many new styles of nesting dolls. The most common themes feature animal collections, portraits and caricatures of famous politicians, musicians and popular movie stars. Matryoshka dolls that feature communist leaders of Russia became very popular among Russian people in the early 90's, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Today, many talented Russian artists specialize in painting themed matryoshka dolls that feature specific categories of subjects, people or nature.

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Periodic review of procedures relating to Sales & Use Tax data gathering and retention so that proper supporting documentation, including exemption and resale certificates, are available in the event of a State audit.

A related type of tax is the value-added tax or VAT. It is a system in which all businesses remit taxes on their sales but they are also refunded the amount of VAT remitted by their suppliers. In addition to avoiding cascading, under VAT there is no need for government to determine which sales are taxable and which are not, since all sales--retail, wholesale and intermediate--are taxed.