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S at u r d ay, d e c e m b e r 27, 2025
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La. still waits on House map ruling Time may be running out for it to affect 2026 elections
BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP
Mounted patrol officers Zoie LeVergne atop Rio, left, and Cameron Cormier riding Judge get in some work and training with the horses on Dec. 1 at Lafayette Police Department Stables in downtown Lafayette.
Lafayette mounted unit fosters connections between police, community BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer
Lafayette Police Department’s Adam Townley really can speak about horses for hours. He’ll even nitpick how horses are handled in your favorite Western movie, whether you asked about it or not. “You can’t help it,” Townley, a senior corporal and trainer in LPD’s Mounted Unit, said on a dreary morning in early December. The smell of a roux filled the LPD’s horse stable as they prepared their annual Christmas gumbo for the crew. “That’s not how you do that. That’s not what that’s called,“ Townley continued. “You just have to learn to be quiet.” On that day, Townley was training several LPD officers to ride the department’s
horses and become part-time members of its mounted unit, which was founded around 2005. It may take months, sometimes more than a year, for trainees to become comfortable and confident enough to ride with the mounted unit. But you’ll quickly know if you’re made for the crew, Townley said. “Anybody can tell you with the horses out here, you just don’t dip your toe in it. You’re either all in it, or you’re all out,“ Townley said. Horses and horse riding are something that’s always been part of Townley’s life growing up in Alexandria. He remembers taking a horse on hunting trips and trail rides. In 2010, he moved to Lafayette and joined the police force as a patrol officer. About a year into the job, he began hear-
ing about the department’s mounted unit and signed up. He immediately fell back in love with riding and joined part-time before eventually transitioning into a full-time role. And it is a full-time role, with the unit’s six horses requiring around-the-clock care: fed twice daily, including on holidays and weekends, and exercised at least three times a week. They also require regular vet visits, hoof care and dental checkups. “It’s a labor of love,“ Townley said. While Townley and his crew may have regular visits with their horses, residents are most likely interact with the LPD’s horses during major crowd events such as festivals, parades and Saturday nights
ä See MOUNTED, page 5A
Former bunker houses archive of fish specimens More than 8 million preserved species form Tulane collection
moment it was collected. Together, these jars form the Royal D. Suttkus Fish Collection, a kind of morbid library of the Gulf’s fish life. “It’s the world’s largest collection of postlarval preserved fishes,” said Brian Sidlauskas, the director of the Tulane University Biological Diversity Institute, or BY ALEX LUBBEN TUBRI, and the curator of the fish Staff writer collection. “We’re getting ready to Downriver from New Orleans, add another 3 million specimens.” At a moment when many rebehind heavy doors in grass-covered bunkers that stored artillery search institutions are losing fundduring World War II, are millions ing, shrinking storage and closing of dead fish. collections, Tulane is expanding They’re preserved and cata- this one. Scientists say these “liloged in rows of glass jars, each braries” of preserved animals have one a time capsule, a specimen become more valuable in an era of pulled from a particular place on rapid environmental change. a particular day, labeled so future ä See FISH, page 5A scientists can return to the exact
WEATHER HIGH 81 LOW 63 PAGE 6A
In October, Gov. Jeff Landry and Republicans in the Louisiana Legislature pushed back next year’s spring elections, saying a looming U.S. Supreme Court decision could require the state to redraw its voting maps for Congress. Postponing the Republican and Democratic primaries by a month, they said, would give the state more time to react to a potential ruling by year’s end. But, as 2025 draws to a close with no sign of a decision by the high court, the clock is ticking down — and state leaders are starting to think through what happens next. The maneuvering around the potentially landmark voting rights case, Louisiana v. Callais, is part of a national redistricting battle started by President Donald Trump, which is now being waged across the country by Republicans in states like Texas and Democrats in places like California. Louisiana could go from sending
ä See RULING, page 5A
Trump, Zelenskyy to discuss security guarantees Ukraine’s president says 20-point plan ‘about 90% ready’
BY ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press
STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE
Brian Sidlauskas, curator of the Royal D. Suttkus Fish Collection and director of the Tulane University Biodiversity Research Institute, stands Dec. 17 among shelves of preserved fish specimens in the collection in Belle Chasse.
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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend. Zelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks, and that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90% ready.” An “economic agreement” also will be discussed, Zelenskyy said, but added that he was unable to confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.”
ä See UKRAINE, page 5A
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