What goes up must eventually come down, right? Still, it’s disconcerting to see Hawaii’s hotel industry, which has enjoyed robust performance for years, blip downward in key metrics for the first time in a decade.

That’s what happened in February, usually the best month for hotels here. The slide did come on the heels of a series of events that created a negative perfect storm — quite literally, including last spring’s destructive rains and floods on Kauai and East Oahu. But other factors, such as competition from illegal lodging, present ongoing conundrums that must be resolved — as quickly as possible.

Pearl City is a happy place

WalletHub, that personal finance website, will always let you know where you stand — at least, by their lights. And the lights have been pretty dim in Hawaii, according to recent data.

Hawaii is the worst state for taxpayer return-on-investment on state-government services and infrastructure; this year’s seventh least-innovative state; and sixth from the bottom among states that doctors can love.

But on its list of the Top 20 Happiest Cities, Pearl City rates No. 16. So we must do some things pretty well— at least in Pearl City.