By Sarah Carstens
Staff Writer

In an attempt to better connect young professionals, the group 40 Below has been working to improve the MQT area.

"It is vital to a thriving community to bring young people together to economically stimulate the community in a positive manner for years to come, as they represent the future.” said 40 Below President Ryan Nummela.

By MQT Social Scene staff

MQT Social Scene is recapping and updating the biggest stories of the week, all stories that readers can greatly influence if they wish. Make it happen MQT.

According to the Baby Isaiah Facebook group, Isaiah had signs of an intestinal blockage on March 12. Mother Erica Kaye posted the information and said that due to the earlier intestinal issues caused by the necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), surgery was necessary.

More tests were done earlier this morning to determine what would be the best type of tube to insert into Isaiah, according to another post by Kaye.

Both Kaye and Joe Gatiss, father of Isaiah, are with the child at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor. Kacie Hanford is leading the aid efforts in MQT. She can be found for more information through the Facebook group or can be found at the Ore Dock Brewing Company.

READ: MQT supports local infant

Dia de los Tacos (DDLT), the only independent food truck in the area, was nominated for Food Truck Taco of the Year on the website mobile-cuisine.com. Voting ends tonight at 1 a.m. MQT time.

MQT Social Scene first broke the story after it was posted on the DDLT Facebook page. Since then, TV6 and ABC5&10 have both covered the contest. What was originally a three-horse race, Box of Chacos of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla took a commanding lead, with less than 24 hours to go.

DDLT is owned by Mike and TeriLynn Walker, who have overcome permit issues, laid off of their jobs and infrastructural challenges since starting their business. Now they operate a food truck five days a week during the Michigan Winter, while also providing food for weekends and special events at different bars throughout MQT.

Voting is still available on the mobile-cuisine.com website on the lower right-hand corner of the page. An earlier link from MQT Social Scene was used so many times, it started preventing people from voting, so manually type in the website name to vote.

READ: Dia de los Tacos nominated for food truck taco of 2014

READ: Love of tacos prevails as Dia de los Tacos hits the streets

The MQT Royales have already accomplished a lot in their first season of existence.

They won 22 games in a row earlier in the season to help bring a Minnesota Junior Hockey League (MnJHL) Great Lakes Divisional championship. The team has partnered with two charities to raise money for organ donation awareness and youth hockey programs across the Upper Peninsula.

Now they will play in their first home playoff game in franchise history.

The Royales should have spent last weekend beating the St. Louis Frontenacs in a lopsided 1-8 matchup, but St. Louis was excused from the playoffs by the divisional general managers. Instead, MQT played the Portage Lake Pioneers in an exhibition game.

Tonight, March 14, the Royales will play the Wooster Oilers. The sixth-seeded Oilers won just one of six games in the season series, but are fresh off an upset sweep of the Central Wisconsin Saints. The Oilers and Royales will play a best-of-three-series.

If the Royales win, they will go onto the MnJHL round robin championship, where the top two teams in the pool will move onto the USA National Championships. The Royales, rival Illiana Blackbirds, Maple Grove Energy and the Wisconsin Dells Ducks are the favorites to advance to the round robin.

The Royales will be the only home event in a busy athletics weekend for MQT. The NMU Wildcats play in the first round of the WCHA tournament in Mankato, Minnesota. against the Minnesota State Mavericks. Also the women's basketball team will make their first NCAA Division II Tournament appearance since 2010 as the fourth seed in the Midwest Regional. They will play Quincy of the Great Lakes Valley Conference in Springfield, Missouri.

READ: Portage Lake drops MQT in exhibition game

READ: Royales get controversial bye in MnJHL playoffs

Earlier this morning, MQT Social Scene was added to the news section of the Marquette Mobile app. The app, available for most smartphones, is locally developed and covers many aspects of the MQT area, including news sources, online menus, a blog and more.

Also MQT Social Scene now has an Instagram and will be using it as a source for different styles of reporting. MQT Social Scene Instagrammed the UP Builders Show and attached the pictures to the Twitter account to give real-time reports of the show. We also took those pictures and added them to our blog, so those that did not have the social media platform could still view the pictures.

We also have a Twitter and live tweeted the Pigs and Heat hockey game on Wednesday, March 12. MQT Social Scene took a different approach to the coverage, focusing on the game instead of just another charity event. Live tweeting helped further that journalistic concept and added details that were not found elsewhere. MQT Social Scene will continue to use social media in new ways to add depth of local coverage.

READ: #INSTAGRAMMING- UP Builders Show

READ: Pigs torch Heat in annual charity game

By Brice Burge
Editor in Chief

Returning to the community room of the Ore Dock Brewing Company, Breakwall Comedy will have their monthly show tonight, March 11, at 8 p.m..

Each show has a headliner, a featured act and locals that will have various lengths of standup. Headlining this show will be Nathan Timmel, a national-touring comedian showcased on the Bob and Tom Show, Sirius satellite radio and Raw Dog Comedy. Featured will be Tucker Diedrich, a comedian from Northern Wisconsin.