Obama To Shine Spotlight On Web-savvy Mich. Town

MARQUETTE, Mich. (AP) - President Barack Obama is taking his nationwide broadband access campaign to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where people love their isolation and open spaces but are hungry for economic opportunities that will keep more of their children from moving away.

Obama's making a stop Thursday in Marquette, which is trying to develop a web-based economy that will serve as a model for other communities.

Among the businesses taking advantage of the high-speed Internet access are a century-old outdoor clothing store that ships coats and woolen socks around the nation, and a much newer company that sells miniature video cameras that skiers, mountain bikers and even troops in Afghanistan attach to their helmets to record themselves in action.

Obama's National Wireless Initiative calls for extending coverage to 98 percent of the population.