Branch Township, Michigan

Branch Township is a civil township of Mason County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 1,181. Branch Township was named after Branch County, Michigan.

Communities

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 36.0 square miles (93 km²), of which 35.5 square miles (92 km²) is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²) (1.45%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,181 people, 506 households, and 332 families residing in the township. The population density was 33.3 per square mile (12.9/km²). There were 921 housing units at an average density of 26.0 per square mile (10.0/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 97.88% White, 0.34% African American, 0.68% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.25% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.37% of the population.

Michigan

Michigan ⁱ/ˈmɪʃᵻɡən/ is a state located in the Great Lakes and midwestern regions of the United States. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake". Michigan is the tenth most populous of the 50 United States, with the 11th most extensive total area (the largest state by total area east of the Mississippi River). Its capital is Lansing, and the largest city is Detroit.

Michigan is the only state to consist of two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula, to which the name Michigan was originally applied, is often noted to be shaped like a mitten. The Upper Peninsula (often referred to as "the U.P.") is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, a five-mile (8 km) channel that joins Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. The two peninsulas are connected by the Mackinac Bridge. The state has the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the world, being bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, plus Lake Saint Clair. As a result, it is one of the leading U.S. states for recreational boating. Michigan also has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds. A person in the state is never more than six miles (9.7 km) from a natural water source or more than 85 miles (137 km) from a Great Lakes shoreline.

Michigan: Report from Hell

Michigan: Report from Hell, released as Michigan in Japan, is a survival horror game developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by Spike. It was released in Japan on August 5, 2004, in Europe on September 30, 2005, and in Australia in 2005. This game was never released in North America. Directed by Akira Ueda and planned by Goichi Suda, the game focuses on a news crew for the fictional ZaKa TV, dedicated to covering strange phenomena. The game is unique in the sense that it is played almost entirely though the viewfinder of a camera; and the game is lost if the player runs out of film before solving the mysteries in a mission.

Plot

In Michigan, players take the role of a rookie cameraman for ZaKa TV, the entertainment division of the powerful ZaKa conglomerate. Accompanied by Brisco, an outspoken sound engineer, and Pamela, a reporter, the player is sent to investigate a mysterious mist that has descended over the city. The player quickly discovers that the mist is somehow transforming people into fleshy, leech-like monsters with human limbs. Pamela is attacked by the creatures, and is later found in the process of transforming into one. The player, Brisco, and a new female reporter are sent to investigate the source of the monster outbreak.

Michigan wine

Michigan wine refers to any wine that is made in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2013, there were 2,650 acres (1,070 ha) under wine-grape cultivation and 101 commercial wineries in Michigan, producing 1.3 million US gallons (4,900,000 L) of wine. According to another count there were 112 operating wineries in Michigan in 2007.

Wine and enotourism were estimated in 2007 to be a $300 million industry. Most of the quality bottled wine of Michigan is produced in the four American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) of Fennville AVA, Lake Michigan Shore AVA, Leelanau Peninsula AVA, and the Old Mission Peninsula AVA. There are also a few wineries in every region of the state including some in the Upper Peninsula that have opened over the past several years.

In addition to grape wine, Michigan is a leader in the production of fruit wines such as cherry wine.

History

The traditional wines of Michigan were sweet wines, often made from grape varieties native to North America, such as the Catawba, Concord, and Niagara, or from hybrid grapes partly developed by crossing native species with vinifera grapes. North American native grapes have the advantage of being adapted to local growing conditions, with consequent high fruit yield. In addition, growers can switch back and forth between the production of sweet wine and grape juice. Of Michigan's 14,600 acres (5,900 ha) under grape cultivation, only 12%, 1,800 acres (730 ha), were devoted to wine grapes as of 2007.