(4 December 2008)  Chicago authorities say jealousy was the motive for the deadly shootings of Jennifer Hudson's relatives; a Florida lawmaker hangs up on Barack Obama; Tyler Perry denies stealing anyone's script.  We've got details on the latest KISS News Now! 

• Though his lawyers say prosecutors have no solid evidence, a judge denies bond for Jennifer Hudson's brother-in-law.  Authorities say jealousy fueled the October shootings of Hudson's mom, brother and 7-year-old nephew.  Cook County prosecutor LuAnn Snow contends 27-year-old William Balfour (below) was furious that his estranged wife--Hudson's older sister, Julia--was dating again, and he had told her her family would suffer.
  
  "On the day of the offense, he was in the house with Julia Hudson," says Snow.  That morning before she left for work, he had stopped by.  He saw a birthday present and he questioned her about where that birthday present came from.  He told her again that she -was not to see other men."
  
  Prosecutors say Balfour stole the murder weapon from one of his victims--Jason Hudson--months ago.  Defense lawyer Joshua Kutnick says, "There is no direct evidence of Mr. Balfour committing these crimes,'' he said, adding that a girlfriend who claims Balfour confessed to her and asked her to provide him with an alibi is "highly suspect.''
  
   
• He fathered her in college, and she can only remember talking to him once on the phone, but Brian Nichols' 16-year-old daughter is asking his jury to spare the life of the courthouse killer.  Pennsylvania honor student Jasmine Jay had trouble picking him out when asked to identify her dad at the defense table.  Jay says back in March 2005, her mother pulled her out of school to tell her she'd located her father.  She recalls being happy at first--then her mother explained that Brian Nichols was the suspect in a multiple murder.  She reached out to her father after that, and they have been writing each other ever since.
  
   
• She thought she was being "punked" by a radio station--so a Republican congresswoman in South Florida hung up on the man calling himself Barack Obama....twice!  Ileana Ros-Lehtinen told the man--who actually was the President-elect--that he sounded better than the guy on Saturday Night Live, but she wasn't buying.  It took a call from a fellow congressman to convince Ros-Lehtinen the Obama call was legit.  She says Obama laughed about it all, and didn't blame her for being skeptical.  He was calling to congratulate her on her re-election, and tell her that he looked forward to working with her. 
  
   
• A Smyrna mom asks a Cobb County juvenile court judge today to restore her custody rights--even though she drove to Nebraska to dump her 12-year-old son.  Tysheema Brown says she was desperate to get her son help because he'd been getting in trouble with the law, and thought he might get into Boys Town there.
  
   
• Atlanta Police raid a 24-hour hot dog stand in the West End.  They say Tasty Dog served as a front for drug sales, sold booze illegally, had no hot water--and only scored 41 on its latest health inspection.
  
   
• More trouble for ex-Lithonia Mayor Joyce McKibben.  City police charged her with obstruction, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct after a confrontation with officers Monday at the Kelly Street Housing Project.  McKibben was trying to help a Somalian family move to a better home, but police say she egged on an argument between the family and management over apartment damages, and then refused to leave.
  
   
• Tyler Perry's taken the stand in a federal trial where a woman accuses the actor/screenwriter of stealing from her script  to make his hit movie, "Diary of a Mad Black Woman."  Donna West says her play was called "Fantasy of a Black Woman," and was based on her life; she wants a cut of the profits from Perry's film.  A Dallas-area theater buff and West associate says when he saw the movie, he could predict what would happen from one scene to the next and thought it was based on West's play.  Perry this week told a Texas jury, "I never stole anything from anybody.  Never."
  
   
• Grammy nominations are out, and Lil Wayne dominates with a year-leading eight nominations--including Album of the Year!  Coldplay picks up seven nods; Ne-Yo, Kanye West and Jay-Z get six each, and Jazmine Sullivan has five nominations, including Best New Artist.
  
   
• The KISS 104.1 weather forecast:  overcast skies and a high around 50, with a 70% chance of light rain, especially after the lunch hour.  Low tonight, 35; Friday and Saturday, partly sunny and breezy highs in the low 50s.