President to visit Michigan town to tout wireless

President Barack Obama goes rural tomorrow with a speech in Marquette, Mich., a town of 21,000 on the state's Upper Peninsula, and one of U.S. News and World Report's 10 best Winter Wonderlands for Retirement. The high on Thursday is expected to be 13 degrees, with a forecast for snow, then more snow. (Mapquest image; click for a larger version.)

Sam Eggleston of The Detroit News reports that Marquette Mayor John Kivela is coming back from the balmy temperatures in Florida. "I'm flying back … so I can be a part of this," said Kivela from the 13th hole of a golf course in Bradenton, which is enjoying 70-degree weather.

One of the local elementary schools, Sandy Knoll, is holding a "Red, White and Blue Day" and encouraging students to wear clothing in that color scheme in honor of the occasion. Marquette's 44-person police department is working with the Secret Service, White House staff, the Marquette County Sheriff's Office and the Michigan State Police to coordinate the motorcade and security. (Read more)

Marquette was chosen because Northern Michigan University has a wireless network that is a model the Obama administration wants to replicate in rural areas. David Shepardson and Nathan Hurst of the Detroit News Washington Bureau report that Marquette is a good pick also because businesses there are using the newly available wireless networks to expand. "There are businesses in Marquette . . . where they have been able to build their companies because they're selling their goods across the United States or overseas," White House Deputy Communications Director Jen Psaki said. "The programs that are going on in Marquette are models. We're pretty excited about it."

In Obama's State of the Union address, he called for a National Wireless Initiative to extend wireless coverage to 98 percent of the U.S. population. (Read more)