Kaua‘i-Ni‘ihau Isle Burial Council Revisits Wainiha Decision

The Kaua‘i-Ni‘ihau Island Burial Council met October 2 to revisit their April 4 decision for the remains to be "preserved in place." Property owner Joseph Brescia took the ruling and a subsequent Historic Preservation Division approval of a preservation plan to mean that construction of his house at Wainiha over the burial site could proceed. A ruling by 5th Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Watanabe returned the matter back to the island burial council after she concluded that the division had failed to follow the law.