Northern Kauai residents who have been enjoying a yearlong pause from tourist overload, and were dreading the returning hordes, have another month’s reprieve.

A year ago April, Mother Nature unleashed torrential rains that flooded the area, destroying homes and roadways that slowly have been rebuilt. Now, Mother Nature has delayed the planned May 1 reopening of a 2-mile stretch of Kuhio Highway: a recent rock slide has forced emergency slope stabilization on the highway approaching Hanalei Bridge. The highway is now due to reopen June 13; good news for area businesses, not so good for residents coveting the quiet.

Setback for Hu Honua

It’s among the oldest forms of energy harnessed and put to use by humans: a wood-burning fire.

We’re still at it, although not without some problems. Hu Honua Bioenergy, which hopes to sell electricity generated by burning eucalyptus trees on the Hamakua Coast of Hawaii island, found its plans stymied by the Hawaii Supreme Court, which ruled that the state Public Utilities Commission had failed to “explicitly consider” the state’s goal of reducing greenhouse gases before approving the setup.

It seems an even older form of energy — solar — will continue to dominate the renewable energy sector.