Walter "Killer" Kowalski

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EVERETT — Pro wrestling pioneer Walter "Killer" Kowalski died Saturday from the effects of a massive heart attack. He was 81.

Kowalski died at Whidden Hospital in Everett, 12 days after his family decided to take him off life support. He had been in critical condition in the hospital since his heart attack on Aug. 8, his wife, Theresa, said.

An obituary posted at Weir Mac Cuish Family Funeral Home's Web site said Kowalski began his professional career in 1947 as "Tarzan" Kowalski. His hulking 6-foot-7, 275-pound frame and a brutal wrestling style soon earned him the nickname "Killer."

Kowalski began to be known as a villain after hurting Yukon Eric during a match in Montreal in 1954.

Kowalski retired in 1977, a year after he and Big John Studd captured the WWF World Wrestling Tag Team Championship as members of "The Executioners" team.

SALEM — A fire broke out early Saturday at the Oregon State Capitol, leaving the building with smoke, water and fire damage, including to the governor's ceremonial office and the offices of some of his high-ranking staff members.

The fire, which started on the south side of the building, was reported by Willamette University students living across the street at about 12:30 a.m. Saturday, and was put out in about 20 minutes, said Capt. Calvin Curths of Oregon State Police. Five janitors working inside the building exited safely after being alerted by a fire alarm.

The blaze is being investigated as a possible arson, but a cause is not expected to be announced until after the holiday weekend.

The Capitol burned down twice before, most recently in 1935. Extensive renovation work was being done on the Capitol this year, much of it in the area where the fire is thought to have started.

Most of the building, which was added to the National Registry of Historic Buildings in 1988, escaped the blaze.

ST. LOUIS — Two St. Louis-area hospital emergency rooms are on lockdown after the arrival of patients who appeared to be exposed to chemicals.

Authorities say three people arrived by car at St. Anthony's Hospital with health problems caused by chemical exposure, apparently at an industrial area in East St. Louis, Ill.

Meanwhile, three other victims reportedly went to SSM DePaul Health Center.

Details of their conditions were not immediately known.

Authorities say the victims were exposed to a white powdery substance.

About 20 people who were in the St. Anthony's ER were quarantined. People were not being allowed to enter or leave the emergency room.

LAS VEGAS — Two former Bank of China managers and their wives have been convicted of conspiracy charges in an elaborate, 13-year scheme to embezzle $485 million from a state-owned bank and launder the money in other countries.

Former bankers Xu Chaofan and Xu Guojun, and their wives, Kuang Wan Fang and Yu Ying Yi, were found guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas of racketeering conspiracy, money-laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to transport stolen money. The bankers also were convicted of visa fraud, and their wives were convicted of passport fraud.

The indictment also charged Kwong Wa Po, the brother of defendant Kuang Wan Fang, who remains a fugitive.

Federal prosecutors accused the five of participating in a racketeering conspiracy that began in 1991 and continued until October 2004, when the two former bank managers and their wives were arrested.

Yu Zhendong, another former manager accused of participating in the scheme, earlier pleaded guilty to racketeering charges and cooperated with the investigation. In 2004, U.S. officials handed him over to Chinese authorities under a promise he wouldn't be executed.

Prosecutors said the three former bankers used their posts at a Bank of China branch to approve phony loans and money transfers. They said the bankers tried to launder more than $3 million by making deposits at several Las Vegas casinos, which can operate like banks. The casinos were not accused of wrongdoing.

They said the bankers' wives helped launder the stolen money, entered the U.S. illegally, and received U.S. citizenship and passports through deceit.

PITTSBURGH — Medical officials in Pittsburgh say staff members and some patients at a Veterans Affairs hospital are getting preventive treatment for whooping cough after an outbreak was traced to several workers at an outpatient clinic.

Officials said tests confirmed 11 cases of the respiratory bacterial infection among employees at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System facility.

The chief of the VA's infectious-disease division, Dr. Robert Muder, says no patients have been found to be ill with the disease but some have been offered antibiotics.

He says the hospital's employees, doctors, interns and medical students are taking a five-day course of antibiotics.

Whooping cough causes severe coughing spells but is not considered a threatening illness in adults.

MILWAUKEE — Thousands of people lined a parade route Saturday as Harley-Davidson riders from around the world revved their engines, waved flags and threw candy to the crowd for the iconic motorcycle company's 105th anniversary.

About 7,500 motorcycles sparkled in the sunshine as they growled along the 4 1/2-mile route by Lake Michigan.

More than 100,000 people were expected in Milwaukee for the celebration, which included activities at the new Harley-Davidson Museum and a Saturday night performance by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Harley-Davidson Inc. spokesman Jerry Gleason said the riders were randomly selected from among people who bought celebration tickets before December.

Riders came from overseas as well as the United States, many festooning their bikes with their home countries' flags. Others wore costumes. The 158 police and sheriff's troopers participating included officers from as far away as Italy.

Among the lead riders was Willie G. Davidson, grandson of a Harley-Davidson founder and the company's chief styling officer.

DETROIT — General Motors Corp. is cracking down on workers and retirees who it says have improperly extended employee discounts to non-relatives and have cost the automaker more than $450,000.

Lawsuits filed by GM say company audits found the discounts had saved buyers anywhere from $1,000 to almost $9,000.

The Detroit News says it isn't clear how many lawsuits have been filed.

The newspapers reported Saturday that some of the lawsuits were filed after this month's announcement by GM that it is temporarily extending such discounts to everyone on almost all of its 2008 and some 2009 models.

GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson says the timing of the lawsuits and the extended discounts was coincidental. He says while such uses of employee discounts might have been overlooked in the past, the company now is closely watching its costs.