IN BRIEF

SANTA FE, N.M.

Third House member seeks U.S. Senate seat

Democratic Rep. Tom Udall will run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Pete Domenici, said Tom Nagle, Udall's chief of staff. Udall will formally announce his decision during Congress' Thanksgiving recess, Nagle said Saturday.

Udall's decision means all three U.S. House members from New Mexico are running for Domenici's seat. Rep. Heather Wilson and Rep. Steve Pearce have said they would vie to be the Republican Party's candidate for the Senate seat.

Domenici plans to retire in January 2009 because of an incurable brain disease.

Udall, elected to northern New Mexico's 3rd District seat in 1998, is a former two-term state attorney general and the son of former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall.

In the Democratic Party's June primary election, Udall faces Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez; Jim Hannan, finance director of the Santa Fe Community Housing Trust; and Leland Lehrman, who edits an alternative newspaper in Santa Fe.

Udall had said he planned to stay in the House, where he is a member of the Appropriations Committee. He reconsidered after a "groundswell" of encouragement from New Mexicans, Nagle said.

TAHOE CITY, Calif.

Felony charges filed in bear's shooting

Michael Babcock of Tahoe City has been charged in the illegal shooting death of a black bear Aug. 28 on Lake Tahoe's north shore.

Felony counts of cruelty to animals and negligent discharge of a firearm were filed against Babcock, said Placer County Deputy District Attorney Chris Cattran.

Babcock also faces two misdemeanor counts of an illegal taking and a misdemeanor charge of shooting a firearm within 150 yards of a residence.

He is accused of shooting a sow that climbed up a tree with its cub. The adult bear fell from the tree and died. The male cub was released back into the wild.

A necropsy found a bullet killed the bear, not the fall as Babcock initially maintained.

State law says landowners who experience damage must first secure a depredation permit before they can shoot a bear. The permit allows the killing of a problem bear regardless of the time of year.

Both felony charges carry prison time, but Cattran said he doubted Babcock's sentence would be that severe.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.

Officials say hit man turned on employer

Authorities say a man suspected of putting a hit on another person was nearly stabbed to death when the hit man joined the intended victim and turned on him.

Francisco Lopez was beaten, stabbed, nearly strangled and then dumped down a mountainside last month. Found two days later by hikers, he was arrested Oct. 30 after getting out of the hospital.

Santa Barbara County sheriff's deputies said the chain of events began when Lopez, 23, recruited Jose Loza to kill a 22-year-old man hanging around Lopez's girlfriend.

Authorities said the target, Victor Garcia, joined forces with Loza, 28, and two other people. Authorities said the attackers, who knew each other, turned on Lopez after he and others drove Garcia to a remote area to kill him.

Garcia, Lopez, Loza and a 15-year-old boy were arrested for investigation of attempted murder and criminal conspiracy. Lopez was also arrested for investigation of soliciting murder. Victor Amezcua, 28, was at large.