CENTENNIAL, Co. MAN CONVICTED IN WITNESS KILLING

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(AP) -- An Arapahoe County jury has convicted Sir Mario Owens of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of two people, including a man who was scheduled to testify against him.

Owens could face the death penalty. The jury will begin deliberating his punishment on Monday.

The verdict was handed up Wednesday.

Owens was convicted in the 2005 deaths of Javad Marshall-Fields and Marshall-Fields' fiancée, Vivian Wolfe.

Marshall-Fields was to testify against Owens and another man in a separate shooting death. Owens was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in that case.

ARVADA, Co. RITTER SIGNS EDUCATION BILL

(AP) -- Gov. Bill Ritter signed a landmark education bill designed to streamline Colorado public school curriculum and better prepare children for graduation on Wednesday, telling Arvada High School students it's no longer "business as usual."

Ritter said the bipartisan Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids will require major changes in the way students are taught and the way they learn by completely reorganizing content and assessment standards in public schools.

He planned to sign a bill later in the day that eliminates a waiting list for preschool programs for at risk children and expand full-day kindergarten for 22,000 children over five years.

Ritter told the students that too many of their peers fail to graduate and the state needs to take a bigger role in education.

"We rank 45th in the country for the percentage of native-born residents who earn college degrees. And as a nation, we are one of just two industrialized countries in the world whose college-completion rate is actually declining. We can do better. We must do better. And with these bills, we will do better," Ritter said.

Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, said the bills signify major changes for public education from preschool through college.

"This can truly be the blueprint for a revolution," he said.

Michelle Trujillo, who had children in schools in Denver, Adams and now Jefferson counties, said her children are doing better in Jefferson County with progressive curriculum than they did in other counties. She said education levels should be the same, no matter where parents live.

"I think setting standards is the best way to go. There shouldn't be any difference," she said.

DENVER DNC HIRES SECURITY CHIEF

(AP) -- Denver has hired a veteran in emergency preparedness to direct its Office of Emergency Management plans for the Democratic National Convention.

Ellis M. Stanley Sr. supervised planning for the 1988 Democratic convention and the 1996 Olympic Games, both held in Atlanta.

The Rocky Mountain News reported Wednesday he'll be paid $9,000 a week -- or up to $280,000 -- under a city contract through the Aug. 25-28 convention.

Denver is paying for Stanley's lodging -- $2,250 a month for an apartment lease -- and a rental car, according to Sue Cobb, spokeswoman for Mayor John Hickenlooper.

Funds for Stanley's contract come from a $50 million federal grant Denver received for convention security costs.

DENVER PAROLE OFFICE SHOOTS, KILLS SUSPECT

(AP) -- One man is dead after a state parole officer shot him at a Denver home.

The shooting occurred about 9 p.m. Tuesday as the officer was checking on one of his parolees.

Police spokesman Sonny Jackson says the officer recognized a wanted felony suspect and confronted the man. Jackson says the suspect produced a gun and the officer fired.

The suspect was pronounced dead at Denver Health Medical Center.

No names have been released.

Department of Corrections spokeswoman Katherine Sanguinetti says Denver police will take the lead in the investigation, but says the DOC will follow up.

GRAND JUNCTION, Co. WOMAN DIES IN WRONG-WAY CRASH

(AP) -- A second person has died of injuries suffered when a van traveling the wrong direction on Interstate 70 struck a car in Grand Junction.

Police say the woman driving a Dodge Caravan died Monday evening, a few hours after the crash.

Authorities say the woman drove the wrong way in a roundabout, then merged onto I-70 from an exit ramp and traveled west in the eastbound lanes before hitting a Chevrolet Monte Carlo head-on.

The van driver's name has not been released. The driver of the Monte Carlo, 26-year-old Jenny Trover of Fruita, died at the scene.

A 5-month-old boy riding with Trover remains hospitalized.

Grand Junction Police Officer T.J. Rix says both vehicles were traveling at least 60 mph when the crash occurred.

DENVER COUPLE ACCUSED OF ABUSING WORKERS

(AP) -- The owners of a sushi restaurant were arrested Tuesday for allegedly treating two of their Korean immigrant workers as indentured servants and withholding over $100,000 in wages.

Young Jo Kwon, 43, and his wife, Jessie Kwon, 41, were charged with five counts of theft and forging of tax and labor documents following an investigation by the Colorado attorney general's office and the FBI's Civil Rights Program, said Nate Strauch, a spokesman for Attorney General John Suthers.

The Kwons, owners of Sushi Moon in Greenwood Village, were released after each posted $10,000 in bond. Trent Trani, a lawyer at the firm representing them, declined comment.

The Kwons are the former owners of Osaka Sushi. While there, they're accused of forcing Jaihee Jo Hong and Jong Chul Choi to work without pay by threatening to have their families deported.

Jaihee Jo Hong was allegedly deprived of over more than $19,000 in overtime between 2000 and 2005 while John Chul Choi allegedly lost more than $90,000 in unpaid wages over four years.

According to the arrest affidavit, Jaihee Jo Hong, her husband and two sons came to the United States legally in July 2001 on visitors visas. She was hired by the Kwons with the promise they would sponsor her and her family so they could get green cards.

Investigators found that she was only paid for 40 of the 70-plus hours she worked each week and that she was paid less than the salary listed on forms submitted to the U.S. Department of Labor.

According to the affidavit, Jaihee Jo provided investigators with information about Jong Chul Choi. Choi, who worked as a chef and owned a restaurant in South Korea, said he was hired to be a sushi chef but did maintenance and construction work for the Kwons. The labor department and Colorado revenue department had no record of Choi being paid at all and estimated his back wage earnings to be $90,042.60 between 2001 and 2005.

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