University president quits amid lawsuit

TULSA - The president of Oral Roberts University, who is facing accusations he misspent university funds to support a lavish lifestyle, has resigned from his position, the Board of Regents said yesterday. Richard Roberts's resignation is effective immediately. A lawsuit filed by three former professors includes allegations of a $39,000 shopping tab at one store for Roberts's wife, Lindsay; a $29,411 Bahamas trip for one of Roberts's daughters; and horses for their children. The son of school founder Oral Roberts has denied wrongdoing. (AP)

LAYTONSVILLE - A man shot and killed his former wife, their three children, and himself in a small-town park as the woman prepared to hand over custody, police said yesterday. Their bodies were found Thursday in the community of Unity when Maryland-National Capital Park Police officers stopped in the deserted park after noticing two cars with their engines running, said Wayne Jerman, Montgomery County assistant police chief. The bodies of Gail Louise Pumphrey, 43, of Woodbine, and the three children - ages 6 to 12 - were found in the cars, Jerman said. David Peter Brockdorff, 40, of Frederick, was found nearby with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The couple divorced in 2005. (AP)

CHICAGO - An Illinois congressman said he was a victim of racial profiling when police gave him a traffic ticket alleging he swerved over the center line. US Representative Danny Davis, who is black, said he will go to traffic court to challenge the $75 ticket given to him early Monday by two white officers. "I'm not one of these people who cry racism," Davis said yesterday. "I'm a person who believes in hard work and follows the rules." (AP)

DURHAM - Authorities are investigating a phony e-mail that went out to contacts of a state NAACP official and says she is stranded in Africa. The e-mail, which is full of grammatical mistakes, went to people in Amina Turner's address book. It says Turner is writing from a "saber cafe" in Lagos, Nigeria, and needs $2,900 wired via Western Union to pay a hotel bill and other expenses. It requests a return e-mail address. "It's unnerving because it's your name," said Turner, executive director of the state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The hoax is being investigated by the state Bureau of Investigation and Internet Crime Complaint Center. (AP)

AMARILLO - A subdivision has barred convicted sex offenders from owning or living in any new homes. G.R. Chapman Limited Partnership said the deed restriction will apply to new development within The Woodlands. The 550 existing homes are not affected. The deeds for new homes will stipulate a homeowner cannot sell the home if the buyer or a future inhabitant is a sex offender. (AP)