Flags lowered in honor of Marshall

Flags at state and county buildings are to fly at half-staff tomorrow in honor of City Councilwoman Barbara Marshall, who died last month after a battle with colon cancer.

Gov. Linda Lingle issued the order to coincide with services for Marshall, which are scheduled for 10 a.m. tomorrow at St. John Lutheran Church in Kailua.

City officials have scheduled a public memorial service for Monday.

Marshall, 64, formerly a television reporter and Council chairwoman, died Feb. 22 in Orange County, Calif.

“;Councilwoman Marshall was a tireless advocate for the public,”; Lingle said in a statement. “;Whether reporting or producing the news, or representing her Windward Oahu constituents, Councilwoman Marshall was passionate about having an informed citizenry and providing a voice for the people.”;

Marshall's family asks that no flowers be given and that donations be made to St. John Lutheran Church, 1004 Kailua Road, Kailua, HI 96734; or Pacific Health Ministry, 1245 Young St., Honolulu 96814.

A separate public service is scheduled for 4:45 p.m. Monday at the city's Mission Memorial Auditorium on the Fasi Civic Center grounds.

Marshall is survived by husband Cliff Ziems, son Joe, grandson Zachary, brother Mark and stepchildren Cliff Jr. and Chris.

Jury mulls evidence in Pali slayings

The jury in the Pali Golf Course shooting trial began deliberations yesterday.

U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway turned over the case to 12 jurors who will decide the fate of Rodney Joseph Jr. and Ethan Motta, charged with racketeering, operating an illegal gambling business and committing murder and attempted murder in aid of racketeering.

They are the accused gunmen in the Jan. 7, 2007, midday shooting at Pali Golf Course, in which two men were killed and one critically injured.

The government says Joseph and Motta committed the murders to gain back control of illegal gambling operations on Oahu.

Motta said he shot two of the victims in self-defense.

Joseph's lawyer said his client did not shoot anyone.

Outage cancels some UH classes

Classes and labs are again canceled today in the Bilger Addition at the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus as workers attempt to figure out the cause of and fix a power failure that affected seven buildings on campus Wednesday afternoon, spokeswoman Diane Chang said in an e-mail.

Power was restored to Krauss, Sakamaki, Kuykendall, the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics, Bilger and the Art buildings by 3:50 p.m. Wednesday. All the buildings are on Correa Road and shared the same electrical circuit.

Crews were still working yesterday to restore power to the Bilger Addition. Chang said offices, labs and classrooms for a variety of majors and schools, including the College of Natural Sciences, are housed in the Bilger Addition.

State spending $1M on traffic lights

More than $1 million in state money will be spent to modernize traffic signals at various locations on Oahu.

State officials say the total cost of the project is estimated to be more than $5 million. The figure includes $4 million in federal funds.

The improvements include replacing obsolete traffic signal equipment and upgrading traffic signal systems to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards.

Other work centers on adding countdown pedestrian signals, installing additional closed-circuit television cameras to help maximize roadway efficiency, and converting from incandescent to light-emitting diode traffic signals.