The Buzz 09.29.16

GOOD WEEK / BAD WEEK

GOOD:

It’s a good week for historic preservation—and dancers—with the grand opening of Move Studios in Monterey. Move Studios occupies the wood-framed Spanish style building at Franklin and Cortes which was originally home to Monterey Ice Delivery Co. of Union Ice Co., built in 1930, when it was the Central Coast’s supply source for ice, which was the case for decades. Now Carmel native Kristin Minnich, who learned the art of ballet in France, has transformed the once dilapidated space into a gorgeous six-studio dance venue featuring everything from Bollywood to zumba to hip-hop to ballet. Glass chandeliers hang above, spring hardwood floors lay below, and each studio comes with its own temperature control system, adjustable for hot yoga or cooling down after a session. Move Studios has already launched 44 classes with 20 different teachers. More at movestudios.com.

BAD:

It was another bad week for firefighters and communities near Arroyo Seco as the Soberanes Fire entered its ninth week, growing to more than 128,380 acres. Wind gusts approaching 40 miles per hour, coupled with low humidity, made a bad weather combination for firefighting crews, leading to a “red flag” warning Sept. 21, an advisory of dangerous conditions. The fire jumped two containment lines, one near Arroyo Seco and another north of Chews Ridge, where embers from a controlled burn started a separate 300-acre fire, resulting in evacuation warnings for residents deep in the Santa Lucia Mountains, along Tassajara Road from Chews Ridge to Bruce Ranch. A bulldozer operator was injured Sept. 23 in a turnover, though not seriously. Despite the recent setbacks, overall fire containment rose to 81 percent as of press time, though 410 structures remain threatened.