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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 PHOTOS 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 Royal D. Suttkus Fish Collection in Belle Chasse.
AQUATIC PRESERVE Former World War II bunker houses vast archive of fish specimens for Tulane
ä See RULING, page 4A
Trump, Zelenskyy to discuss security guarantees
BY ALEX LUBBEN Staff writer
Downriver from New Orleans, behind heavy doors in grass-covered bunkers that stored artillery during World War II, are millions of dead fish. They’re preserved and cataloged in rows of glass jars, each one a time capsule, a specimen pulled from a particular place on a particular day, labeled so future scientists can return to the exact 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 TUBRI, and the curator of the fish collection. “We’re getting ready to add another 3 million specimens.” At a moment when many research institutions are losing funding, shrinking storage and closing collections, Tulane is expanding this one. Scientists say these “libraries” of preserved animals have become more valuable in an era of rapid environmental change. “If a scientist, 100 years from now,
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.
Ukraine’s leader: Plan ‘about 90% ready’ BY ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press
Paddlefish are kept in a jar in the Royal D. Suttkus Fish Collection at the Tulane University Biodiversity Research Institute in Belle Chasse. wants to access a particular fish,” Sidlauskas said, “it’ll be there for them to check out of the library.” The Suttkus collection holds more than 8 million fish specimens, the vast majority of which were acquired by the col-
lection’s founder, ichthyologist Royal D. Suttkus, who, over the course of a nearly six-decade career, amassed more than 7 million fish in jars. The collection will
ä See FISH, page 5A
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. 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
ä See UKRAINE, page 5A
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