(Tuesday, 2 December 2008)  The "person of interest" in the Jennifer Hudson family murders case is now the one and only suspect; Georgia voters help decide the balance of power in the U. S. Senate; Plaxico Burress posts bond after shooting himself in the thigh.  Get in-depth details on today's KISS News Now!

• The estranged brother-in-law has been the so-called "person of interest" from day one in the Jennifer Hudson family murders case.  Now, ex-con William Balfour is charged with October's fatal shootings of Hudson's mother, brother and nephew.  Balfour's mother insists her son couldn't have done it; she says there was no blood spatter, gunpowder residue, or any forensics to tie the 27-year-old to the crime.
  
  "If they found a gun on him, he had a case," says Michele Davis-Balfour.  "If they found a fingerprint on the truck, that he did this, you got a case.  But they don't have nothing!" 
  
  Davis-Balfour says her son had three girlfriends in addition to his estranged wife, and that one of them--whom she says also has a drug case pending--was furious when he told her he wanted to go back home.  Balfour insists he's innocent.
  
  
• Paulding County Sheriff's deputies say they have a credible tip in last Monday's disappearance of 22-year-old Neeka Varnado--that she was last seen with another young woman.  She'd attended a hip hop awards show at the Georgia International Convention Center, so cops spent the day there Monday looking at video from the night Neeka disappeared.
  
   
• Georgia voters could decide the balance of power in the United States Senate with their ballots today.  Democrats are seeking a 60-seat filibuster-proof majority; Jim Martin is seeking to oust Republican Saxby Chambliss in today's runoff.
  
   
• The head of Georgia's Senate Higher Education Committee is proposing a merger of two historically black colleges with other schools to save money. Senator Seth Harp says they consider combining Savannah State University with Armstrong Atlantic University and Albany State with Darton College.  Georgia's University System may have to come up with $200 million in cuts this year.
  
  
• Questions surround the case of New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who posted $100,000 bond after surrendering Monday on a weapons charge.  Burress' teammate, Antonio Pierce, is being questioned over whether he tried to hide the gun when Burress accidentally shot himself in the thigh in a club's VIP section over the weekend.  A witness said they heard a pop, then saw Burress' leg start to shake and a bloody pistol fall out of his pant leg before he said, "Take me to a hospital."  Police say Burress didn't have a carry permit for the .40-caliber Glock.  Burress is due back in court March 31.
  
  
• Brian Nichols' trial judge goes off on defense attorneys who claimed--but then couldn't prove--that prosecutors had tampered with an evidence CD.  And in denying yet another motion for mistrial, Judge Jim Bodiford told the defense he can't trust them anymore.  Nichols is in the penalty phase of his trial for the 2005 shootings of a judge, court reporter, deputy and customs agent. Prosecutors want him on death row.
  
   
• Detroit's big carmakers today present Congress with plans to restructure themselves, to show that any bailout money they get won't go to waste. The plans include salary cuts for top execs.
  
  
• President-elect Obama meets with the nation's governors today in Philadelphia, where they're expected to press their cases for funds to improve infrastructure and health care for the poor.
  
   
• It's official--it's a recession,all right. In fact, the National Bureau of Economic Research, which tracks economic cycles, says the downturn began last December.  Many economists believe it'll be the most severe since the 1981-82 recession.
  
   
• Who's on your iPod?  Well, if you're like many this year, T-Pain, Flo Rida and Rihanna are on one of your playlists.  Apple says they're among the most-downloaded artists on iTunes in 2008.
  
  
• The KISS 104.1 weather forecast:  mostly sunny, and a high of 46.  Tuesday night's lows, 27-31.  Wednesday, sunshine and a high of 51.