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tion legislation offering citizenship to millions in the U.S. illegally and spending billions of dollars to secure the border.
• The vote on final passage of the White House-backed bill was expected as early as Thursday, after a series of test votes so far this week demonstrated supporters command a bipartisan majority well over the 60 votes needed to secure passage and send the bill to the House. First must come two more procedural tests set for Thursday.
• "We're on the edge of passing one of the most significant pieces of legislation that this body has passed in a very long time," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor Wednesday. "The vast majority of members in this body realize that the immigration system is broken and needs fixing."
• Supporters posted 67 votes or more on each of three procedural tests Wednesday. More than a dozen Republicans sided with Democrats on each, ensuring bipartisan support that the bill's backers hope will change minds in the House.
• The outlook there is uncertain. Many in the GOP-controlled House oppose the pathway to citizenship at the center of the Senate bill. And many prefer a piecemeal approach rather than a sweeping bill like the one the Senate is producing.
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• ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) -- In the final minutes of his life, Odin Lloyd sent a series of texts to his sister.
• "Did you see who I was with?" said the first, at 3:07 a.m. June 17. "Who?" she finally replied.
• "NFL," he texted back, then added: "Just so you know."
• It was 3:23 a.m. Moments later, Lloyd would be dead in what a prosecutor called an execution-style shooting orchestrated by New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez because his friend talked to the wrong people at a nightclub. Hernandez was charged on Wednesday with murder.
• Hernandez was cut from the NFL team less than two hours after he was arrested and led from his North Attleborough home in handcuffs, and nine days after Lloyd's body was discovered by a jogger in a remote area of an industrial park not far from Hernandez's home. The 2011 Pro Bowl selection had signed a five-year contract last summer with the Patriots worth $40 million.
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