Off the news: Court swats challenge to mosquito effort

The state has prevailed against an appeal challenging its bio-engineered strategy to save endangered Maui forest birds. The Monday ruling clears the way to release laboratory-raised “incompatible” male mosquitoes in the forest that mate, but don’t breed, with females, driving mosquito populations down.

The invasive mosquitoes carry avian malaria, deadly to Maui honeycreepers — and with global warming, the pests are closing in. It’s a do-or-die effort, as the honeycreepers will likely go extinct otherwise. Only a few of them survive at higher, formerly mosquito-free elevations.