The LA Times weighs in with another story on the 700-square-mile Wi-Fi network in Eastern Oregon: The details don't appear much different from the Associated Press's October filing on this subject, although the emphasis on the chemical weapons emergency communications system is emphasized. (Nancy Gohring first noted the cloud and it's chemical weapons connection after receiving a press release back in Feb. 2004 on Wi-Fi Networking News.)
The AP story said that Fred Ziari, founder of EZ Wireless, footed the $5 million bill himself. Sam Howe Verhovek--the former Northwest bureau chief for the New York Times--writes in the LA Times that "The wireless network, which cost about $5 million to set up, is almost entirely paid for from federal, state and local emergency-preparedness funds." Those statements are probably not as inconsistent as they sound: it's the difference between capital expense and operating income.
Onion farmer Bob Hale is a poster child in both articles.