Category Archives: Progress

Notre Dame played its best game of the season against Purdue and rolled to a 27-13 victory for the teams 26thconsecutive win inside Notre Dame Stadium. With the win, Irish head coach Brian Kelly is now tied with legendary Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne for the program record of 105 wins.

It was a strong performance for the Irish on both sides of the ball, with the offense making big-time plays and the defense playing its best game of the season.

Though Irish quarterback Jack Coan completed just 15 of his 31 pass attempts, he still threw for 223 yards and two touchdowns and led what was a much-improved Notre Dame rushing attack.

Coan believes the Irish offense started to find its groove against the Boilermakers.

I definitely think we took a step forward today, Coan said. We played a more complete game, but at the end of the day we just have to focus on getting more consistent, whether its in the pass game and my part or the run game as well. I think if were consistent throughout a whole game were going to be a pretty difficult offense to stop.

Fifth-year wide receiver Avery Davis and sophomore running back Kyren Williams were two of the biggest starts offensively for Notre Dame against Purdue. Davis set career highs in receptions with five and receiving yards with 120, and broke the game open with a 62-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Williams was effective in both the pass and run games, catching a quick in cut and taking it 39 yards to the house to put Notre Dame on the board in the second quarter and then making defenders look silly on a 51-yard touchdown run to close out the game in the fourth quarter.

Davis spoke highly of the offense after the game.

Its a great feeling. I think we all knew coming out of camp that we have a really talented offense so I think the biggest thing that we preach is be ready when your opportunities come, that was a thing going forward, Davis said. It was kind of my day today I guess, my opportunity, my number was called so just wanted to capitalize on that.

Davis has been a part of the past four double-digit win teams for Notre Dame and both trips to the College Football Playoff, and knew the team wasnt performing up to standard the previous two weeks.

I just know how those successful teams in the past have been because theres not too many guys in the locker room that have been a part of those undefeated teams, those teams that went to the Playoffs, so I know how hard we worked in practice and I just wanted to translate that over and whenever it might be a little low I wanted to bring energy and just say what I needed to say to get the guys going, Davis said.

Coan was effusive in his praise of Davis after the game.

AD definitely had a huge game, especially on that post play," Coan said of his slot receiver. "Hes a big-time player and he stepped up in a big moment and hes a guy I always trust to be in the right spot and doing the right thing. Im definitely thankful to have him on the team.

AD is an amazing person and an amazing leader of the team," continued Coan."Theres a reason hes a captain and one of the vocal leaders of the offense, when hes in that huddle with you, you trust him that hes going to do his job and make sure everyone is on the right page as well.

Games like Saturday are why Davis returned for another year.

I come back for moments like these and moments moving forward so right now Im going to take advantage of it. Its been a long time coming but I just keep my head on right, keep working and when the opportunity comes I just try to make the most of it.

For Williams, Saturday was all about bouncing back from last weeks struggles.

Last week we got a win, but it was a win that I could have taken away from the team, taken away from the program by fumbling the ball so I was mad at myself, Williams said.

I was upset at myself but I had to flip that switch immediately if I didnt want that to repeat again this week," continued Williams."Coach [Lance] Taylor told me, a lot of people told me, last week are the games that you come back from and really prove who you are as a player, as a leader, as a person. For me to be able to bounce back like I did this week after last week is big for me, it gives myself a lot of confidence.

Davis didnt hold back in his appreciation for Williams talent.

Hes insane. His ability to just maneuver through tight spaces to make people miss, his strength to stay up like when you saw #6 get on his back, I was right there running next to him so I got probably the best view of it and it was just incredible, Davis remembered. It kind of was, just watching him for a second, I forgot I had to block for him at the same time because hes just so entertaining man. Hes a really good football player.

After two games where the Irish rushing attacked appeared out of sorts, against Purdue the team moved the ball more effectively on the ground. Williams is confident with where the offensive line is headed.

If it wasnt obvious today, they responded well," Williams said of the line. "I feel like we came out as an offense, and the o-line specifically, they dominated. They went out there and proved themselves each and every down to dominate the person in front of them.

Thats all we were talking about, were keeping it simple in the run game, just go out there and play football and just do what you do best and thats what they did. They drove people back and gave me and Chris opportunities to make runs happen.

Defensively, Notre Dame played its best game of the season, giving up its fewest point and total yardage totals for the season.

Fifth-year defensive end Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa also thinks the Irish made major strides on Saturday.

I think the biggest thing coming from the first two weeks our defense lacked a lot of attention to detail, we talked about that a lot," Tagovailoa-Amosa explained. "Coming into this week, our focus as a defense was making sure we close out in the third and fourth quarter.

We also had a meeting last night with Coach [Marcus] Freeman, the entire defense, and he just told us, Hey our key to victory is making sure we finish, and so that was what the guys did today and so Im proud of them.

After surrendering double-digit points in the fourth quarter against Florida State and Toledo, Notre Dame held the Boilermakers scoreless in the fourth quarter on Saturday.

As a defense, we understood that the first two weeks we struggled with closing out games, so having this behind our back it definitely means a lot. It just goes to show that we can do a lot with this defense, Tagovailoa-Amosa said.

The Irish looked like a complete football team on both sides of the ball against Purdue and have shown much improvement across the board in the two weeks since the season began. If the team can continue to improve at such a high rate, the ceiling for what the Irish can accomplish this season is very high.

The win streak inside Notre Dame Stadium remains intact, and as Tagovailoa-Amosa made clear after the game, the team doesnt take any of it for granted.

All the guys know to wear that gold helmet on Saturdays, to run out that tunnel, its tradition. Its just truly a blessing to be out there.

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Notre Dame Made Progress In Its Win Over Purdue - CalBearsMaven

The pandemic has tested and even reversed progress in expanding womens rights and opportunities. Women have not recovered lost jobs and income, hunger is on the rise, and school closures threaten girls educational gains. Womens participation in government, research, and resource management remains far from equal. Vulnerable groups of women, including migrants, those with disabilities, and those affected by conflict, are frequently left behind. Disparities between rich and poor countries are preventing equal access to lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, putting women in poorer countries at disproportionate risk.

Moreover, despite womens central roles in responding to COVID-19, including as front-line health workers, they do not have the leadership positions they deserve. Building forward differently and better will require placing women and girls at the centre of all aspects of response and recovery, including through gender-responsive laws, policies, and budgeting.

Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The gender snapshot 2021 presents the latest evidence on gender equality across all 17 Goals, highlighting the progress made since 2015 but also the continued alarm over the COVID-19 pandemic, its immediate effect on womens well-being, and the threat it poses to future generations.

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Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2021 - World - ReliefWeb

Nothing demonstrates the glaring difference between Toronto and Buffalo than the sad fate of one of Torontos most beloved discount stores Honest Eds. If anyone from Western New York has ever visited this Toronto institution, youll know it was a one-of-a-kind experience from its kitschy sale signs to its corny slogans; from its Las Vegas-eque honky-tonk exterior, to its dizzying array of household products to its ridiculously cheap prices.

Honest Eds was one of those rare landmarks that made Toronto unique since its founder Ed Mirvish, opened it in 1948 until its untimely and unfortunate closing in 2016. Over the decades it was the go-to store for thousands of Torontonians outfitting their first home, or students outfitting their dorm rooms. But five years ago, it all came to an end, when Honest Eds was torn down to make room for what has become a symbol of Torontos out-of-control growth a condo complex. Today in place of this iconic emporium, stands another architecturally bland condo building amongst a sea of hundreds of other similarly uninspiring new condo buildings that have overtaken the citys skyline and created condo canyons where once stood beautiful, tree-lined neighborhoods. And herein lies the difference between Toronto and Buffalo how each city views its past with an eye towards to its future. Where Toronto tears down its history, Buffalo (now) embraces it. Hopefully that sentiment will continue as Buffalo begins to grow preserving what is left is key.

In Toronto, the condo building frenzy has spun out of control. I used to joke to myself that I would not be surprised if a condo developer knocked down an existing condo that was put up a mere five years ago. But now, thats no joke. Only a few weeks ago did I read that a condo developer plans to remove a row of new townhouses that were built (as part of a larger condo project) only five years ago! And those few elegant old buildings that have not been demolished completely, often survive by becoming the pedestals for 40 story condo towers shadows of their former grace and function.

Contrast this to Buffalo which honors its past by restoring and repurposing its older buildings, not tearing them down. Granted, there are significant factors between both cities that account for the difference in approaches to revitalizing neighborhoods. Torontos continuing explosive growth means that new residential units have to be built to accommodate the influx of people arriving from across Canada and especially from overseas. And with a significant expansion of the citys light rail system along major thoroughfares, scores of condo towers are going up along these new transit lines to create a needed density to prevent sprawl. But the staggering number of condos that have been and continue to be constructed in Toronto, are in my opinion, destroying not only the history of the neighborhoods, but their character too. When sixty, seventy, eighty year old trees are bulldozed in a matter of minutes to clear space for a mega condo project, more than just a tree is lost the soul of the neighborhood is lost too.

In my old neighborhood in midtown Toronto near Yonge St. and Eglinton Avenue a priority neighborhood for density development due to the new light rail line along Eglinton Avenue so many trees and near century old homes have been torn down, replaced by 40, 50 story condos, that I decided to move away not only because my street is no longer recognizable to me, but my old street and surrounding streets have ceased functioning as a human scaled place to live. Front porches have been replaced by balconies half a mile high in the sky. Once leafy backyards are now barbeque and leisure patios for the areas new condo dwellers. The condo canyons of Yonge and Eglinton are not neighborhoods. They are mere places for condo residents to live. How can people living 50, 60 stories above ground level feel any sense of connection to the area they live in? And in a building with thousands of residents, how can you feel that intimate sense of neighborliness?

Thankfully, Buffalo does not have to deal with the loss of neighborhood after neighborhood. In fact, I surmise that the opposite is happening in Buffalo. With the re-purposing of so many old factories and warehouses into human scaled dwellings, neighborhoods are actually being revived and coming back to life again, not being displaced as they are in Toronto. For this, one need not look further than downtown Buffalo, the Larkin District and now in Black Rock too, with a proposed redevelopment project that will bring new apartments to this historic neighborhood.

Which brings me back to Honest Eds. It could have been salvaged. There is a way to preserve historic buildings as part of a condo project. Honest Eds could have remained intact with a condo tower perched on top of it preserving the old but accommodating the new. Tearing down Honest Eds obliterated a significant part of Torontos cultural and architectural history. Fortunately, Buffalos approach to residential development is far more respectful of the citys history an approach that no longer erases its past (for the most part), but rather finds new ways to incorporate its past into the present and future needs of the city. Be careful what you wish for?

Lead image: Buffalos new Braymiller Market with the historic Hotel @ The Lafayette as a suiting backdrop. Its important to have a mix of historic architecture, along with smart infill moving forward.

Toronto born and raised, but with my roots solidly planted in Western New York, I have been visiting Buffalo and enamored with Buffalo ever since I was a kid. I love writing for BRO but equally enjoy writing about Buffalo for Southern Ontario audiences to introduce them to all the great things happening in the renaissance city. When I'm not writing, I'm teaching fitness and health promotion at a community college in Toronto and running my own personal training business. Visit my website at http://www.lorneopler.com

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At what price progress? - Buffalo Rising

When 54 of the players on your roster are freshmen and sophomores, your team will experience some growing pains.

That's been the case with the Matanzas Pirates football team. But sometimes scores can belie the progress a young squad is making. That has also been the case with the Pirates, who fell to Gainesville 57-16 on Friday, Sept. 17.

"Our offense is getting better. We don't really have any returning starters," said coach Matt Forrest, noting that senior receiver Noah Cundiff (high ankle sprain) has not yet played this season.

"Their attention and effort has been great every day, and that's the hard part," Forrest said. "I like the way our direction is going, but it still takes time."

Matanzas (1-3) trailed 13-9 in the second quarter before Gainesville went ahead 27-16 at the half and then outscored the home team 30-0 in the second half.

"Our defense just gave up too many big plays," Forrest said.

Sophomore Landon Grover kicked a 42-yard field goal.Sopohomore Jordan Mills' 2-yard touchdown run followed a long pass from sophomore quarterback Dakwon Evans to senior Tate Winecoff to pullthe Pirates to within six points at 13-9. Evans' 47-yard touchdown pass to another sophomore, Cole Hash, closed out the scoring for Matanzas.

Forrest said Cundiff could be in the lineup when the Pirates host Orange Park (1-3) on Sept. 24.

"He'll be day-to-day," Forrest said. "We don't want to rush him back. He's got a great future after he leaves here."

Cundiff received his eighthDivision I offer last week from Samford University, a team that runs the same"air-raid" offense as Matanzas, Forrest said.

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Young Pirates making progress on the football field - Palm Coast Observer

Jules Woodson, of Colorado Springs, Colo., speaks during a rally outside the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting Tuesday, June 11, 2019, in Birmingham, Ala. First-time attendee Woodson spoke through tears as she described being abused sexually by a Southern Baptist minister. AP Photo/Julie Bennett

A 2019 report found more than 700 victims experienced sexual misconduct at the hands of Southern Baptists in formal church roles.

Southern Baptists voted at a national gathering in June to form a task force to investigate how the denomination's Executive Committee handled sex abuse allegations.

The Executive Committee has not confirmed whether it will waive its attorney-client privilege for the investigation.

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A seven-member task force is investigating how the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) mishandled sexual abuse allegations within its churches, resisted reforms, and intimidated victims and advocates, the Associated Press reported.

In June, Southern Baptists voted at a national gathering to form the task force, which will report back during the 2022 convention and publish its findings in advance, Baptist News reported. Members named to the task force have expertise in areas like social work, sexual trauma, therapy, and children's advocacy.

The formation of the committee followed the publication of a 2019 report from the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News, which found more than 700 victims experienced sexual misconduct at the hands of Southern Baptists in formal church roles.

In its first two months, the task force selected Guidepost Solutions - a team of investigators, security and technology consultants, and compliance and monitoring experts - as a third-party firm to help conduct the probe.

Additionally, the task force has asked the Executive Committee of SBC to waive its attorney-client privilege before an upcoming meeting as part of the investigation, the Associated Press reported. Although the Executive Committee said in a press release that it is "not opposed in principle to requests for the waiving of attorney-client privilege," no formal decision has been made.

"If the executive committee decides not to waive privilege, then they are sending a clear message that they're rejecting accountability and transparency," Rachael Denhollander, one of the two task force advisers, told the Associated Press.

Denhollander was the first woman to publicly accuse serial sex offender and former US gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar of sexual assault, according to Baptist News.

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Task force makes progress on investigation into top Southern Baptist committee's handling of sexual abuse allegations - Yahoo News

While many reports have been written about the impact of AI over the past several years, the AI100 reports are unique in that they are both written by AI insiders experts who create AI algorithms or study their influence on society as their main professional activity and that they are part of an ongoing, longitudinal, century-long study, said Peter Stone, a professor of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin, executive director of Sony AI America and chair of the AI100 standing committee. The 2021 report is critical to this longitudinal aspect of AI100 in that it links closely with the 2016 report by commenting on what's changed in the intervening five years. It also provides a wonderful template for future study panels to emulate by answering a set of questions that we expect future study panels to reevaluate at five-year intervals.

Eric Horvitz, chief scientific officer at Microsoft and co-founder of the One Hundred Year Study on AI, praised the work of the study panel.

"I'm impressed with the insights shared by the diverse panel of AI experts on this milestone report," Horvitz said. The 2021 report does a great job of describing where AI is today and where things are going, including an assessment of the frontiers of our current understandings and guidance on key opportunities and challenges ahead on the influences of AI on people and society.

In terms of AI advances, the panel noted substantial progress across subfields of AI, including speech and language processing, computer vision and other areas. Much of this progress has been driven by advances in machine learning techniques, particularly deep learning systems, which have made the leap in recent years from the academic setting to everyday applications.

In the area of natural language processing, for example, AI-driven systems are now able to not only recognize words, but understand how theyre used grammatically and how meanings can change in different contexts. That has enabled better web search, predictive text apps, chatbots and more. Some of these systems are now capable of producing original text that is difficult to distinguish from human-produced text.

Elsewhere, AI systems are diagnosing cancers and other conditions with accuracy that rivals trained pathologists. Research techniques using AI have produced new insights into the human genome and have sped the discovery of new pharmaceuticals. And while the long-promised self-driving cars are not yet in widespread use, AI-based driver-assist systems like lane-departure warnings and adaptive cruise control are standard equipment on most new cars.

Some recent AI progress may be overlooked by observers outside the field, but actually reflect dramatic strides in the underlying AI technologies, Littman says. One relatable example is the use of background images in video conferences, which became a ubiquitous part of many people's work-from-home lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To put you in front of a background image, the system has to distinguish you from the stuff behind you which is not easy to do just from an assemblage of pixels, Littman said. Being able to understand an image well enough to distinguish foreground from background is something that maybe could happen in the lab five years ago, but certainly wasnt something that could happen on everybodys computer, in real time and at high frame rates. Its a pretty striking advance.

As for the risks and dangers of AI, the panel does not envision a dystopian scenario in which super-intelligent machines take over the world. The real dangers of AI are a bit more subtle, but are no less concerning.

Some of the dangers cited in the report stem from deliberate misuse of AI deepfake images and video used to spread misinformation or harm peoples reputations, or online bots used to manipulate public discourse and opinion. Other dangers stem from an aura of neutrality and impartiality associated with AI decision-making in some corners of the public consciousness, resulting in systems being accepted as objective even though they may be the result of biased historical decisions or even blatant discrimination, the panel writes. This is a particular concern in areas like law enforcement, where crime prediction systems have been shown to adversely affect communities of color, or in health care, where embedded racial bias in insurance algorithms can affect peoples access to appropriate care.

As the use of AI increases, these kinds of problems are likely to become more widespread. The good news, Littman says, is that the field is taking these dangers seriously and actively seeking input from experts in psychology, public policy and other fields to explore ways of mitigating them. The makeup of the panel that produced the report reflects the widening perspective coming to the field, Littman says.

The panel consists of almost half social scientists and half computer science people, and I was very pleasantly surprised at how deep the knowledge about AI is among the social scientists, Littman said. We now have people who do work in a wide variety of different areas who are rightly considered AI experts. Thats a positive trend.

Moving forward, the panel concludes that governments, academia and industry will need to play expanded roles in making sure AI evolves to serve the greater good.

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New report assesses progress and risks of artificial intelligence - Brown University

A new Vaccines in Kentucky Poll, commissioned by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, shows efforts to encourage COVID-19 vaccines have persuaded two-thirds of those who said earlier this year they were open to changing their minds.

The poll, conducted August 4 to September 4, showed overall lower hesitancy by about one-third, compared to a similar poll conducted six months ago.

The new poll shows nearly 75 percent of Kentuckians have received a COVID-19 vaccine. About one-in-five Kentuckians who have not yet received the COVID-19 vaccine say theyll definitely or probably get it. Just under half of those who have not received the vaccine say theyll definitely not get it, while a quarter say theyll probably not get it.

More than one-third of people who have not gotten the vaccine say nothing will motivate them to change their minds. One-in-five people say they want more time for testing and research. And about one-in-six want more evidence and information about COVID, the vaccines, safety, efficacy, and side effects.

Overall, Kentuckians believe in the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines, including their protection against new strains of the coronavirus. However, people who have received a vaccination believe this significantly more than those who have not received a COVID-19 vaccine.

This poll is encouraging because it shows there are still Kentuckians who are open to learning more and getting the COVID-19 vaccine, said Ben Chandler, president and CEO, Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.

The Foundation continues to support local efforts to get more Kentuckians vaccinated so they can be better protected from serious illness and death from COVID-19.Its why weve also opened $20,000 in mini grants to help organizations get the facts about the vaccine out.

Kentuckians Split

The Vaccines in Kentucky Poll also showed Kentuckians are split when it comes to what precautions they are comfortable with to guard against the coronavirus from wearing a mask to showing proof of vaccine to enter businesses.

Mask Wearing

One-in-three Kentuckians reports always wearing a mask in an outdoor crowded public space, while one-third wear a mask sometimes or occasionally, and one-third never wear a mask.More than a quarter of those who have taken the COVID-19 vaccine never wear a mask, while almost four-in-10 who have not gotten the vaccine never wear a mask.Almost half of Kentuckians say they always wear a mask indoors in a crowded public space.This includes almost half of those who have been vaccinated and more than one-third of those who have not received the COVID-19 vaccine.

More than half of women report wearing a mask at all times in a crowded, indoor public space compared to just over one-in-three men.

Almost a quarter of those unvaccinated say they never wear a mask indoors in a crowded public space.Showing Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination

When it comes to showing proof of vaccination to enter a business, Kentuckians have different views based on the type of business.

Two-thirds think its a bad idea to require proof of vaccine to enter a grocery or retail store.While slightly more than half think its a bad idea for restaurants and bars to require proof of vaccination, slightly more than half think its a good idea for sporting events and concerts to require people to show their vaccine card.There is more consensus when it comes to public transportation. Nearly two-thirds of Kentuckians think its a good idea to require proof of vaccination to board a plane or ride a train or bus.

Student Mandates

Kentuckians are split on whether children ages 12 and older should be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine to attend school in-person. However, two-thirds of people who live with children in their home think its a bad idea.

More than two-thirds of Kentuckians think its a good idea for schools to require unvaccinated children to wear masks at school. For those who have children living in their homes, that number drops just below two-thirds.

The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky commissioned the Vaccines in Kentucky Poll. It was conducted August 4 September 4, 2021, by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati. More than 500 adults from throughout Kentucky were polled by telephone. The poll includes a +/- 4.3 percent margin of error.

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Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky 'Vaccines in Kentucky Poll' shows progress in lowering hesitancy - User-generated content

Micha Onufryjuk/PAP

The Polish army has completed the construction of an 80-kilometre section of a barbed-wire fence along its border with Belarus, the defence minister said on Sunday.

The project is designed to protect both Poland and the European Union against illegal migration.

"Eighty kilometres of a 2.5-metre-high fence have already been built, and more than 130 kilometres of military barriers have been laid," Mariusz Blaszczak said on Sunday in Olsztyn, north-eastern Poland.

He added that a net is also being added to protect animals from being injured on both sides of the fence.

In recent weeks Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have observed increasing numbers of migrants crossing into their territories from Belarus. The three countries have accused Belarus of deliberately sending migrants to their borders in an effort to destabilise the EU.

On August 25, the Polish army began the construction of barbed-wire fencing on the Polish-Belarusian border designed to keep illegal migrants out of Poland. Ultimately, it will secure the country's land border sections. The construction of a 150-kilometre-long stretch of the fence is planned at the first stage. The next stage will involve the building of a further 97 kilometres of fencing.

On September 2, Poland declared a 30-day state of emergency in the regions bordering Belarus to stem a migration crisis. The emergency laws will cover 183 localities in the border zone including in the vicinity of the village of Usnarz Gorny where, on the Belarusian side of the Polish-Belarusian border, a group of migrants have been trapped for over a month.

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Fence on Belarus border in progress - MoD The First News - The First News

This past week brought us two items of interest that may have been overlooked by some amid the more pressing news of the week.

Even if you are not necessarily a fan of grande vanilla bean frappuccinos or artisan soups, sandwiches or pizzas, the recently approved plans for a Starbucks coffee shop in the Mohawk Acres Plaza on Black River Boulevard and the ribbon-cutting of the newly-opened Crust Kitchen & Bar, 86 Hangar Road West in the Air City Lofts complex on Griffiss Park are welcome and important news.

Both restaurants demonstrate not just a sizable investment and commitment to the community, but these developments show that efforts to diversify and grow the local economy and the partnerships between state and local officials; the Griffiss Local Development Corp., MV EDGE, the Oneida County Industrial Development Agency, Empire State Development and other economic development organizations; and a host of private developers are working, despite the lingering COVID-19 pandemic.

Griffiss Park is bustling from the Innovare Center to the Air City Lofts to the Orgill Distribution Center and just about all spots in-between. Employees at DFAS, at Rome Lab and other companies on the sprawling business and technology park, many of whom have all lived elsewhere, are demonstrating that Rome is a great place to live and the amenities they desire from cappuccinos to calzones are following.

We appreciate the investments of those in our community whether from new or longtime investors; however it is important to take note that among those investing in Romes future is a third generation entrepreneur, Chris Destito, whose grandparents and later father and uncles made both The Beeches and The Savoy nationally renown. We wish him equal success in his venture with the Crust Kitchen & Bar.

For those of us old enough to remember young Christophers father, the late Chris Destito, his sons commitment to the community is hardly surprising. During his life, the elder Chris Destito was perhaps the regions greatest advocate and cheerleader. No agency, organization nor individuals problems or needs were too big or too insignificant to him. Though he would never take credit for a thing, there is nary a local philanthropic organization or non-profit human service agency that didnt receive his assistance or wisdom. Decades after many of his efforts almost all done on his own time and at his own expense these agencies, this community, and a new generation continue to benefit.

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Pair of new businesses are signs of ongoing progress - Rome Sentinel

For decades, enthusiasts preferred the manual transmission. You cant blame us. An automatic held back a sports car the way wet concrete would a Kentucky Derby winner.

Thats no longer the case. A good dual-clutch or conventional auto shifts quicker than we can think. So why do so many of us prefer a stick today? We commandeered two Acura NSXesthe iconic original and its tech-laden successorto figure it out. The shifter in the 1991 NSX feels absolutely perfect. Ive never enjoyed shifting more. Moving the lever sends a tactile echo up the ideally sized shifter into my hand and forearm. Its precise but easy. Light but hardly flimsy.

This story originally appeared in Volume 6 of Road & Track.

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Acuras 270-hp 3.0-liter V-6 howls the 3000-pound coupe around the canyons outside Malibu. VTEC is present, but less noticeable than in later Hondas. Peak power is up high, but tall gearing prevents you from spending much time near the 8000-rpm redline. Shame, because Hondas engine can do it over and over again.

The cabin feels like a billion hours were spent on ergonomics. Only a bus has better forward visibility. Functional? Extremely. Glamorous? No. Look inside a Nineties Accord and youll recognize the buttons. The plain black gauges are a missed opportunity to remind you that youre driving something special.

But its rewarding to drive, regardless of speed. The unassisted steering is so light on-center I mistook it for sloppy, but every millimeter of steering angle changes the cars trajectory. Turn into a corner and you feel the body lean a few degrees before it takes a set. Midcorner bumps are given the attention of water flowing around a pebble. Theres no Sport mode or brake-vectoring wizardry. I earned every downshift, apex, and tidy exit. It never felt like I was driving an Accord.

Aside from the sound, the NSX feels just as special and exotic as its Italian contemporary, the Ferrari 348. It deserves every accolade. The NSX is as thrilling to drive as it is important to the evolution of the automobile. I climbed out smiling, feeling the last hundred-or-so turns in my shoulders, and slipped into the bright yellow successor.

In 1997, Ferrari offered the F355 with an F1 style paddle-shift gearbox, a new innovation that saw the clutch operated by a computer instead of a foot. Other companies followed soon after. But those units had a single clutch, which kicked hard enough to move your hairline back. The manual remained king.

Jose Mandojana

The dual-clutch transmission changed that. A good one switches gears faster than you can read the word shift without upsetting the car. Customers loved them. In 2019, 85 percent of BMW M3s were dual-clutch. Want a C8 Corvette with more than two pedals? Strap a bike to the roof.

The 2021 NSXs nine-speed dual-clutch is an excellent example of the duality of this technology. In automatic mode it shifts smoothly, working with the electric motors, exceptionally comfortable seats, and adaptive suspension to deliver one of the most sublime supercar commuting experiences.

Turn the drive selector to Sport Plus and the character completely changes. The 500-hp twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V-6 behind you is more alert and eager. Sandwiched between the engine and transmission is an electric motor that provides torque fill while turbo boost builds. Each front wheel also has its own electric motor that aids in acceleration, torque vectoring, and regenerative braking. All in, you get 573 hp to fling you to 60 in 3.1 seconds on a wave of turbo whistle and intake anger. The hybrid systems in the Ferrari SF90 and Porsche 918 Spyder are not too different, but those cars cost between five and 10 times what the Acura does. The old cars numbers seem adorable.

Few cars corner with the ease and speed of this NSX. Turn the slightly square wheel and the nose follows, almost imperceptibly guided by the electric motors. Theres a concert of computing happening around you, but all I sense is crazy, accessible speed. The seats need more thigh bolstering, and I didnt like the muted feedback from the brake-by-wire system, but the agility and accuracy of the nose commands respect.

Jose Mandojana

Both cars were exciting to drive, but I enjoyed the 1991 more: shifting, rev-matching, all the things that give us pride. Why?

I had a theory: nerve endings. You have 17,000 mechanoreceptors in each hand, mostly in your fingertips, able to detect objects as small as an eyelash. The soles of your feet have 200,000 nerve endings, which help with balance or signal that the fuzzy thing under your arch is the tail of your cat.

A car with three pedals involves all four limbs at once; paddles only require three. More limbs, more nerve endings being stimulated, more dopamine, more driving pleasure. Right?

Dr. Loretta Breuning, founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and author of several books about the brains pleasure systems, disagreed.

If it were just what you said, then everybody would feel it, Dr. Breuning said. But its only certain enthusiasts . . . The reason is our happy chemicals turn on when we do something that turned them on in the past. So, everyone that loves to drive old cars today had an early experience of loving to drive old cars.

If using more limbs led to more pleasure, then everyonenot just gearheadswould prefer driving a manual transmission. Market data disproves that. Instead, its all about what you experienced in your formative years, particularly from childhood through adolescence.

Few Cars Corner With The Ease And Speed Of The NSX.

Those early connections are strong thanks to neuroplasticity: the brains ability to learn. Thats how we pick up new skills, store memories, and recover after a traumatic brain injury. Connections made through hands-on experience are the strongest.

Early experiences have an even stronger effect because of myelin, a chemical that coats your neurons and makes them more efficient. Its like giving your brain fiber-optic internet. Dr. Breuning explains this in her book 14 Days to Sustainable Happiness. When you let electricity flow into a pathway you myelinated in youth, things make sense instantly. We have a lot of myelin before age eight and during puberty, so your repeated experiences in those years built the core neural networks that you have today.

Jose Mandojana

Neural connections tell our brains when to release one of four primary chemicals: dopamine, the feel-good neurotransmitter; oxytocin, the love hormone; serotonin, involved with our sense of status; and endorphins, our built-in pain relievers. Our hobbies can give us powerful doses of neurotransmitters: Dopamine can be activated by food, sex, or collecting. Oxytocin creates that happy feeling you get from being with your kids, friends, or car club. The first time someone let you sit in their cool car, or drive it, you got a flood of serotonin.

These chemicals influence almost everything about us, including the cars we like.

Over a 45-minute phone call with Dr. Breuning, I saw the building blocks of my automotive affinities laid out like an electrical schematic. When I was five, my dad let me shift his International Scout while he drove, which made me feel importantserotonin. At 15, I joined a muscle-car club, making me feel welcomedoxytocin. Cars became my primary hobby as my cerebral wires made new adolescent connections. My discussion with Dr. Breuning changed how I look at the enthusiast community and the groups within it. Mammalian behavior explains silly rivalriesFord vs. Chevy, imports vs. domestics. We like what our tribes like. Think back to your childhood and I bet youll recall experiences that shaped your tastes today.

We subconsciously judge cars using criteria that set into our gray matter not long after we learned that ice cream is delicious and electrical sockets hate fingers.

As for the NSXes, theyre both great and flawed. No matter the generation, you sit too high in a cockpit full of shared parts. The old NSX is loud on the highway, and the new one is as dull on the inside as it is stunning on the outside. The original was a Ferrari that worked; the new one is the only hybrid supercar under $500,000.

Which is better? Ask your lizard brain.

Jose Mandojana

Jose Mandojana

1991 Acura NSXPrice:$60,000 (base when new) Engine:3.0-liter V-6Output:270 hp/210 lb-ftTransmission: 5-speed manual Curb Weight:3010 lb

2021 Acura NSXPrice:$157,500 (base)Powertrain:3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6, 3 electric motorsOutput:573 hp/476 lb-ftTransmission:9-speed dual-clutch automaticCurb Weight:3878 lb

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The Acura NSX Exemplifies the March of Progress - RoadandTrack.com