Yet one more round-up of news and notes as debate over the FIRST STEP Act rages on

I sincerely wish Senate Leader Mitch McConnell would schedule a vote on the FIRST STEP Act so that I would not have to keep blogging round-ups of stories and commentary surrounding the prospects of the FIRST STEP Act. But since I have seen lots of notable developments and discussion even since I did this post this morning, here goes:

• From Fox News, "Charlie Kirk: The First Step Act prison reform bill deserves a Senate vote"

• From The Hill, "Fox issues statement in support of criminal justice reform package"

• From the Omaha World-Herald, "Midlands Voices: Senate must pass the First Step Act"

• From the New York Times, "1th-Hour Effort to Press McConnell to Allow a Criminal Justice Vote"

• From the Star-Telegram, "Ted Cruz rallies conservatives with changes to criminal justice reform plan"

• From The Week, "America has a rare chance at prison reform. We can't let it slip away"

UPDATE: Saving the worst for last, here are two more recent pieces suggesting the odds of enactment are growing ever bleaker:

• From Politico: "Trump’s criminal justice reform nears demise"

• From the Washington Post: "McConnell tells White House little chance of Senate vote on criminal justice bill"

I fear it is getting dangerously close to dust off the old Don Meredith saw, "Turn out the lights, the party's over...."