A murder defendant’s changing story to police managed to place him at the scene of a drive-by shooting and narrow the number of unsolved cases in one of the region’s most crime-ridden areas. A Henrico County jury Thursday night returned a first-degree murder conviction and recommended a life sentence for Lamar D. Jordan, 26. Jordan, of no fixed address but familiar to law-enforcement officers because of his red Acura sedan, told police that the gunfire that killed 21-year-old Rayvell B. Fitzgerald on Nov. 7 in the Essex Village apartment complex likely was meant for him.

ALLEY KATZ—10 Walnut Alley, 643-2816. Sleep Is the Enemy, 6 p.m. Thursday, all ages, $7.  ANDY’S RESTAURANT—Henry Clay Shopping Center, 412 England St., Ashland, 798-9751. Nat King Kong (rock, R&B), 9 p.m. Friday, $3.  ASHLAND COFFEE & TEA—100 N. Railroad Ave., Ashland, 798-1702. The Butterbean Jazz Quartet (jazz), 8 p.m. Thursday, $8. Doug & Telisha Williams CD release event (Americana), 8 p.m. Friday, $10-$15. Stephen Simmons (Americana), 8 p.m. Saturday, $10-$15. Caravan of Thieves (alt Gypsy), 8 p.m. Wednesday, $5.

Several dozen Lawrenceville-area residents brought the pain of state budget cuts to the state Capitol grounds, where they hoped to share it with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine yesterday.

Families of children born with life-threatening injuries and the program that helps care for them have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in money reserved for medically necessary benefits. A 12-page federal indictment unsealed yesterday in Richmond alleges that the program’s chief benefits manager embezzled $819,111 using bogus companies that she secretly controlled.

A man pursued in a high-speed chase by Richmond police Monday had been charged in July with his fifth offense of driving without a license and reckless driving, court records show. Meanwhile, Richmond police spokeswoman Karla E. Peters declined Tuesday to say whether the pursuit in heavy traffic along Nine Mile Road in Henrico County was justified or is under investigation.

A city police pursuit that extended into Henrico County ended in a two-vehicle crash in front of a school this evening. At least two people were taken to hospitals after a car being pursued by city police east along Nine Mile Road rear-ended another vehicle at Newbridge Road in front of New Bridge School. Nine Mile Road at the school is not marked as a school zone.

For the second time in a month, a city park has been targeted by vandals using spray paint. Richmond police said vandals targeted Forest Hill Park overnight Saturday, spraying graffiti reflecting anti-Semitic and racist symbols. The park bordering Forest Hill Avenue in south Richmond is nearing completion of a major improvement project that has removed thousands of tons of silt from Forest Hill lake.

ALLEY KATZ—10 Walnut Alley, 643-2816. Van Etta High, Currents, Bring the Arsenal and others, 4 p.m. Saturday, all ages, $10-$12. Culdera and others, 10 p.m. Saturday, $7. Incomplete Heroes CD release with Liquid Edge, Brunswick Grip and others, 6 p.m. Sunday, $8-$10. Brace War, Rise & Fall, Heathens and others, 6 p.m. Tuesday, all ages, $8. Skinlab, Mower, Diabase and others, 6 p.m. Wednesday, all ages, $19. Drivin N Cryin and Horsehead, 8 p.m. Oct. 8, $15.

A Richmond woman sentenced to two months in jail and convicted of felony child neglect this month has been released pending an appeal. Sharon Breeden Wood, 37, of the 300 block of Clovelly Road in Windsor Farms, agreed as part of her bail not to drive and to not consume alcohol or take unprescribed medicines, her lawyer said yesterday.

A 19-year-old Richmond man has been convicted in Louisa County of soliciting sex from a minor. Robert Cox was arrested in October in a Louisa undercover operation aimed at sexual predators using the Internet to solicit children. Cox is a former employee of a day care center in Henrico County, according to Louisa Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Garrett, who did not name the center.

FALMOUTH George Dennehy, 15, of Hanover County plays the cello and is first chair in his high school’s orchestra. His younger brother James, 14, is an honors student at Oak Knoll Middle School. Jessica Cox, a 26-year-old motivational speaker from Tucson, Ariz., flies airplanes. The brothers have never met Cox, but all three have at least one thing in common: They were all born with no arms.

ALLEY KATZ—10 Walnut Alley, 643-2816. Patent Pending, Freshman 15, Pull the Pint, Kelsey and the Chaos, 6 p.m. Thursday, $7. Cultifly, Scapegoat, Sounds Like Dinosaurs, Chays Allen, 4 p.m. Friday, $7. Rememberance, Before the Machine, The Orion Prototype, 10 p.m. Friday, $9-$10. Pan Am Down, Pan Galactic Straw Boss, The Action Habit, Astropop 3, 9 p.m. Saturday, $7. H is for Hero, Erase the Enemy, The Kindness of Strangers, 6 p.m. Sunday, $8-$10. Ends in Blood, Death Do Us Part, Cast Upon Blind Eyes, Disfigurement, 5 p.m. Tuesday, $7.

The University of Richmond had several recruits in town to watch Saturday’s 47-0 win over Hofstra. Many of them already had committed to the Spiders. Add another. Before leaving town, UR received a commitment from 6-6 tight end Hunter Westfall, of Charlotte, N.C. From Myers Park High, Westfall becomes the 13th member of the Class of 2010 to commit orally to Richmond. Prospects cannot sign letters of intent until February, and college coaches cannot comment on commitments until those letters of intent are received by the college.

I’ll talk until I’m hoarse about Richmond’s trails. For years, I’ve extolled their virtues to anyone who’d listen. The variety, the amount, the way they bring so many different kinds of users downtown while still maintaining a sense of wilderness. I’ve always argued that this re source is truly special. But then I’m a Richmonder. I’m biased. Now, however, you don’t just have to take my word for it.

A vigilant, civically engaged populace is critical to protecting democracy and keeping demagogues at bay, author Mike Signer told the World Affairs Council of Greater Richmond last night. Signer, an adjunct professor in Virginia Tech’s Master’s in Public and International Affairs Program, is the author of “Demagogue—The Fight to Save Democracy From Its Worst Enemies.“