| By DREW BROACH | Staff writer |
NEGLECTED CHILDREN: At a time when Louisiana government was flush with cash, young children were being neglected and abused and the understaffed Department of Children and Family Services was drowning in calls for help, the Legislature gave the agency less money than it requested -- but still found ways to allocate more than $100 million for playgrounds, splash parks, sports complexes, golf courses, rose garden lighting, dog parks and more. (Want more stories like this? Sign up for our free Louisiana Investigative Journalism newsletter.) POSTER CHILDREN: The New Orleans building inspectors who OK’d the Hard Rock Hotel before it collapsed, killing three construction workers, were seen as the poster children for the Department of Safety and Permits' incompetence. But they were hardly alone, according to a new report from the inspector general’s office, which found that other inspectors routinely failed to visit buildings, spend enough time on site or submit required documentation. ROGUE COP: Three men who were imprisoned for murder as a result of descriptions from Len Davis, perhaps the most crooked officer in the history of the New Orleans Police Department, walked free Wednesday, released by a judge at the request of prosecutors who concluded the 1996 case against them was rigged. Thanks for starting your Thursday with Morning Headlines. Catch the latest news all day on NOLA.com. D.B. | 