| By Drew Broach | Deputy metro editor
CHILDREN IN NEED: Faced with skyrocketing caseloads and meager salaries, almost half of the frontline, entry-level social service workers at the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services quit last year, hampering the state's ability to care for its most vulnerable residents at a time of unprecedented need. “We’re drowning,” Secretary Marketa Garner Walters said. “It’s salary. It’s workload. It’s COVID. It’s the ‘Great Resignation.’ It’s the work itself.”
A $330,000 APOLOGY: Jermaine Hudson served almost 22 years in prison after a non-unanimous jury convicted him of armed robbery based on the false testimony of an accuser who later recanted. But on Thursday, an Orleans Parish judge formally ruled that Hudson, 43, was not guilty of a crime that never happened. Hudson forgave his accuser, the accuser sobbed and the judge awarded Hudson $330,000, the maximum allowed, for his wrongful incarceration.
FUND FREEZE: A New Orleans City Council committee moved Thursday to freeze about $12.5 million for the public works, permitting, legal and planning departments, over the objections of Cantrell administration deputies who warned the measures would stifle much-needed hiring and hurt residents. The vote marked a new low in the relationship between the Cantrell administration and some members of the City Council, one that has deteriorated over the past two months since five new council members joined the dais.
Thanks for starting this storm Friday with us. Be sure to check out NOLA.com for more news throughout the day. BW | 
