Tiger: "I am deeply sorry"

Arguably the greatest golfer in the world has finally crawled out of the bunker. Tiger Woods addressed a group of about 40 people today for about 13 and a half minutes. It was the first time he has appeared publicly since a car accident that occurred the morning after Thanksgiving.

According to ESPN, while friends and family members including his mother were in attendance, his wife, Elin, was not.

"I want to say to each of you, simply and directly, I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior I engaged in," Woods said in a prepared statement.

Woods urged the media to leave his family alone and information regarding whether he and Elin will stay married "are issues between a husband and a wife." He also very pointedly dismissed speculations that Elin tried to hurt him. "There has never been an episode of domestic violence in our marriage, ever," he said.

Missing from Woods' statement was an announcement of his return to golf. "I do plan to return to golf one day, I just don't know when that day will be. I don't rule out that it will be this year."

State Parks Dept. recommends closing 41 parks for budget

9WSYR is reporting that the Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation has recommended the closing of 41 state parks and 14 historic sights as well as service reduction at 14 parks and 1 historic sight. This would all be in order to meet state budget needs.

Gov. David Paterson released a statement saying "no area, including parks and historic sites, could be exempt from reductions." This is all part of addressing the $8.2 billion deficit New York state is currently facing. The budget has also cut funding to schools, hospitals, nursing homes and social services, according to Paterson.

11 parks and historic sights in the Central New York region will be closed, and the public swimming beach at Selkirk Shores State Park will also be closed.

Lawyer: Client does not recall shootings

The lawyer of the neuroscientist charged with the shooting and killing three of her colleagues at the University of Alabama in Huntsville says his client doe not remember the incident ever occurring, according to the New York Times.

"She just doesn't remember shooting these folks," Roy W. Miller, the accused Amy Bishop's lawyer, said.

Miller says he will be working with at least one and possibly more psychiatrists to examine Bishop. Though he has backed away from an earlier statement in which he described Bishop as a "paranoid schizophrenic," it appears he is preparing for an insanity defense for his client.

"This is not a whodunit. This lady has committed this offense or offenses in front of the world. It gets to be a question in my mind of her mental capacity at the time, or her mental state at the time that these acts were committed," said Miller.

Bishop has been charged with capital murder in the deaths of Godi Podila, Maria Ragland Davis and Adriel Johnson, all fellow biology professors, and three counts of attempted murder. Two of the people wounded during the Feb. 12 shootings remain in the hospital in critical condition.