She wanted to make people laugh – so she wrote her own obituary and became a viral sensation

CNN on October 1, 2025


WBZ

By Mike Sullivan

Click here for updates on this story

    BOYLSTON, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A Massachusetts woman who battled ALS is going out in her own words. Linda Murphy has become a posthumous viral sensation for a tongue-in-cheek self-obituary that has been published locally and nationally.

Murphy, who was raised in Framingham and lived in Boylston, not only wrote her own obituary, but she also picked out her own casket, chose the music at her funeral, and planned a dance party in her own honor.

“She was the life of the party. She was the party,” said her daughter, Justine Hastings, with a laugh. “One of my favorite comments was, ‘I just read this, and I just wish I could have had a glass of wine with her.”

Murphy passed away following a battle with Bulbar ALS. She had been unable to speak for about a year. When she first felt symptoms such as slurred speech and trouble swallowing, she went to the doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital with a request.

“(She) said, ‘I have ALS. Prove me wrong.’ And they did every single test, and she diagnosed herself,” said Hastings, “That is the most ‘my mom’ thing she has ever done.”

Murphy was also diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 and survived. The journey not only pushed her daughter to become a nurse, but it also prompted Linda to write a book about her battle. The tongue-in-cheek book, titled “F-Off Cancer,” was written to show that people can still have a fun life while battling cancer. Her obituary carries some of that same humor.

“She starts the obituary, ‘Well, if you are reading this, then it looks like I am dead. Wow. It actually happened. I died of FOMO due to complications of ALS,” Hastings read from the start of her mom’s obituary before skipping down to this part: “I lived my life with two superpowers. My first of which everyone was jealous of, was that I could drink as much as I wanted and never seemed to get hungover. The real wonder is why I didn’t die of liver failure.”

As friends, family and strangers alike read her self-tribute, they began to connect with a woman trapped in her own body, looking to go out on her own terms. Murphy wrote the obituary about six months ago when she could still type with her hands. By the end, she could only sign a few hand signals. She wrote about that trapped feeling in her obituary.

“My stupid Bulbar ALS got me to the sad point of not being able to talk. Never speaking means never being able to say, ‘I love you!’ It means not being able to call my Mr. BoJangles over for a snack, and it means not being able to order at the Dunkin’ drive through,” she wrote. “As far as eating, it totally stinks to sit at the table while people around you are eating juicy burgers hot off the grill, heaping piles of Chinese food, a healthy portion of pasta Alfredo, or Chipotle — and I just have to smile and act like I’m enjoying my bowl of puréed baby mush!”

Though she handled it with humor, Hastings said that feeling of being trapped was a real struggle for her mom.

“The hardest thing up until the end is that people would say she looks so amazing. ‘Oh, you look great! You’re smiling! You’re not sick! You’re okay! But behind closed doors, the struggle was so real,” Hastings said.

In her obituary, Murphy told people to be kind – and not to buy her flowers.

“Please be kind to everyone: the telemarketer, the grocery clerk, the Dunkin’s staff, the tailgater, your family, your friends. Speak nicely and positively. Is there really ever a reason to be negative? I don’t think so…”

“PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t waste money on flowers,” she wrote. “Buy a bunch of scratch tickets and give them out to strangers along your way. Make people happy, that is the best way that you can honor my memory.”

It is something she used to do while she was alive and a tradition her family says they will continue in her honor.

Murphy had her brain and spinal cord donated for ALS research.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

She wanted to make people laugh – so she wrote her own obituary and became a viral sensation

CNN Newsource on October 1, 2025

By Mike Sullivan

Click here for updates on this story

    BOYLSTON, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A Massachusetts woman who battled ALS is going out in her own words. Linda Murphy has become a posthumous viral sensation for a tongue-in-cheek self-obituary that has been published locally and nationally.

Murphy, who was raised in Framingham and lived in Boylston, not only wrote her own obituary, but she also picked out her own casket, chose the music at her funeral, and planned a dance party in her own honor.

“She was the life of the party. She was the party,” said her daughter, Justine Hastings, with a laugh. “One of my favorite comments was, ‘I just read this, and I just wish I could have had a glass of wine with her.”

Murphy passed away following a battle with Bulbar ALS. She had been unable to speak for about a year. When she first felt symptoms such as slurred speech and trouble swallowing, she went to the doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital with a request.

“(She) said, ‘I have ALS. Prove me wrong.’ And they did every single test, and she diagnosed herself,” said Hastings, “That is the most ‘my mom’ thing she has ever done.”

Murphy was also diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 and survived. The journey not only pushed her daughter to become a nurse, but it also prompted Linda to write a book about her battle. The tongue-in-cheek book, titled “F-Off Cancer,” was written to show that people can still have a fun life while battling cancer. Her obituary carries some of that same humor.

“She starts the obituary, ‘Well, if you are reading this, then it looks like I am dead. Wow. It actually happened. I died of FOMO due to complications of ALS,” Hastings read from the start of her mom’s obituary before skipping down to this part: “I lived my life with two superpowers. My first of which everyone was jealous of, was that I could drink as much as I wanted and never seemed to get hungover. The real wonder is why I didn’t die of liver failure.”

As friends, family and strangers alike read her self-tribute, they began to connect with a woman trapped in her own body, looking to go out on her own terms. Murphy wrote the obituary about six months ago when she could still type with her hands. By the end, she could only sign a few hand signals. She wrote about that trapped feeling in her obituary.

“My stupid Bulbar ALS got me to the sad point of not being able to talk. Never speaking means never being able to say, ‘I love you!’ It means not being able to call my Mr. BoJangles over for a snack, and it means not being able to order at the Dunkin’ drive through,” she wrote. “As far as eating, it totally stinks to sit at the table while people around you are eating juicy burgers hot off the grill, heaping piles of Chinese food, a healthy portion of pasta Alfredo, or Chipotle — and I just have to smile and act like I’m enjoying my bowl of puréed baby mush!”

Though she handled it with humor, Hastings said that feeling of being trapped was a real struggle for her mom.

“The hardest thing up until the end is that people would say she looks so amazing. ‘Oh, you look great! You’re smiling! You’re not sick! You’re okay! But behind closed doors, the struggle was so real,” Hastings said.

In her obituary, Murphy told people to be kind – and not to buy her flowers.

“Please be kind to everyone: the telemarketer, the grocery clerk, the Dunkin’s staff, the tailgater, your family, your friends. Speak nicely and positively. Is there really ever a reason to be negative? I don’t think so…”

“PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t waste money on flowers,” she wrote. “Buy a bunch of scratch tickets and give them out to strangers along your way. Make people happy, that is the best way that you can honor my memory.”

It is something she used to do while she was alive and a tradition her family says they will continue in her honor.

Murphy had her brain and spinal cord donated for ALS research.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

Royals get revenge with rivalry win over Dos Pueblos in flag football

KEYT on October 1, 2025

Mike Klan

GOLETA, Calif. (KEYT). – San Marcos returned the favor and now the Channel League race is all tied up at the top.

The Royals intercepted three passes and won a defensive 14-7 battle on the road at rival Dos Pueblos.

(The Royals defense bottled up the Chargers passing attack for most of the game. Entenza Design).

Both teams are now tied for first place at 9-1 with four league games left for each squad.

Earlier this season DP edged the Royals by one point at San Marcos.

Clinging to a 14-7 lead, San Marcos senior Peyton Sperling intercepted a pass deep in Royals territory with under a minute left in the game to seal the game and start the celebration.

After a scoreless first quarter Royals sophomore Victoria Aldana picked off a pass and returned the ball into Dos Pueblos territory.

San Marcos cashed the turnover into points as Aldana, who also plays quarterback, scored on a 1-yard sneak and the Royals led 7-0.

The Royals got a second interception late in the first half by Piper Kittle.

But on the final play of the first half and the Royals knocking on the door, Ruby Streatfeild pulled the flag of receiver Peyton Sperling just a few yards from the end zone to keep the score 7-0.

The Royals increased the lead to 14-0 in the third quarter when Rio Chesluk got the ball in the backfield and she threw a short touchdown pass to Janelle Capuno.

Moments into the fourth quarter DP got back into the game with an explosive play.

Kacey Hurley threw downfield to Brooklyn Hedricks who got behind the defense for a 45-yard touchdown to make it a 14-7 ballgame.

With under two minutes to play the Chargers had 4th and goal from the 13-yard line but the Royals were able to stop a receiver several yards shy of the end zone.

But DP forced a three and out and after a short punt the Chargers had the ball inside the Royals 30-yard line.

But Sperling made the big defensive play and the Royals got their revenge.

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Michigan church shooting survivor says she looked gunman who killed her father in the eyes: “I forgave him right there”

CNN Newsource on October 1, 2025

By Kierra Frazier

Click here for updates on this story

    MICHIGAN (WWJ) — A woman who survived the deadly attack on a church in Michigan on Sunday says in a letter posted on social media that she looked the gunman in the eyes after he killed her father, and “I forgave him right there.”

In the letter shared Monday, the woman recounted the events of the shooting at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, in which four people were killed. She said she needed to share what she went through for her dad and “for anyone who can set aside hate.”

“When he [the gunman] came over to me I felt very calm, peaceful even as I kneeled next to my dad, my hands still on dad,” she wrote. “It felt like a long time I stared into his eyes while answering his question.”

“The only way I can describe it is I saw into his soul. I never took my eyes off his eyes, something happened, I saw pain, he felt lost. I deeply felt it with every fiber of my being. I forgave him, I forgave him right there, not in words, but with my heart,” she wrote.

Her father was one of the four people killed in the attack. CBS News is not naming the woman and her father to respect the family’s request. The victims range in age from 6 to 78 years old. Eight others were wounded in the shooting.

The suspect was identified as 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford of Burton, Michigan. Sanford drove his pickup truck through the front doors of the church, exited his vehicle and opened fire with an assault-style rifle at around 100 churchgoers, Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye said. Officials say he then set the church building on fire. Sanford died after “exchanging gunfire” with police, according to Renye.

Law enforcement officials described the shooting as “an act of targeted violence.” Based on conversations with the FBI director, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday the attacker was “an individual who hated people of the Mormon faith.”

In her letter, the woman wrote that when she gave a description of the attacker to the FBI, she told them he had blue eyes; however, she learned that was not the case after she saw his photo.

“In the middle of the night while texting my sister I realized it was my eyes I saw,” she wrote. “I saw into his soul and he saw into mine. He let me live.”

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Principal confirms person posing as teen successfully enrolled in Twin Cities high school

CNN Newsource on October 1, 2025

By Ubah Ali

Click here for updates on this story

    MINNESOTA (WCCO) — There is palpable outrage and calls for accountability after a person posing as a teenager enrolled at White Bear Lake Area High School in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

In a letter to families, principal Russell Reetz confirmed an individual over the age of 21 used fraudulent documents and false identity to enroll as a student, adding, “the individual in question is currently in police custody and is not allowed on any district property.”

Still, for parents like April Jorgenson, that doesn’t make things any easier.

“I’m scared that they’re not keeping our kids safe. I don’t understand how this man got into my kid’s school,” Jorgenson said.

The mother of three students broke down in tears, overwhelmed that this individual slipped through the cracks.

“You need to have a record and you need to have a physical to do these activities. We just can’t figure out how this happened,” Jorgenson said.

Students are even more rattled.

“The district failed us,” said a student who wanted to remain anonymous. “The people who were overseeing this issue and let this slip past, they need to face the consequences.”

State law allows students to attend public school until 21, if they enroll before turning 21.

The school is in District 36, led by State Rep. Elliott Engen. He’s calling for tougher laws and demanding the superintendent step down.

“There’s a system breakdown,” Engen said. “I’d like to see him resign immediately and issue out an apology.”

WCCO has reached out to district leaders for information on their enrollment process and oversight protocols.

Dale Hager, chief of the White Bear Lake Police Department, told WCCO they’re investigating, but have not made any arrests.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

Mom reunites with North Texas nurse who saved her and her baby’s lives eight years ago

CNN Newsource on October 1, 2025

By Nicole Nielsen

Click here for updates on this story

    TEXAS (KTVT) — For eight years, Chaltu Emana searched for the nurse who saved her and her baby’s lives during a traumatic delivery at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. She only remembered the nurse’s face, not her name.

Emana’s labor, at 39 weeks, quickly turned dangerous when her uterus ruptured. Amid the chaos, one nurse stayed by her side, alerting doctors to the emergency and helping make sure both mom and child survived.

“I thought I was going to die, and I thought the baby was going to die too,” Emana said.

Emergency surgery saved mom and baby Minutes later, an emergency C-section saved them both. But Emana never learned the nurse’s name and spent years asking hospital staff for help.

“I kept saying her name was like Gina or something, and they kept saying we don’t know that person,” she said.

Photo helped unlock long search The search finally broke through when Emana spotted an old photo in the background of her baby’s picture. Recognizing the nurse’s face, she reached out — just as she had started working as a nurse herself at the same hospital.

This summer, Emana was finally reunited with Jenna Perry, the nurse who had stayed with her during the emergency.

“I saw her face; I was like that is her. I couldn’t stop crying,” Perry said. “That day and that story has stuck with me for the last eight years. It was honestly one of the most incredible moments I have had in my career,” Perry said.

Baby now thriving eight years later The baby Emana once feared losing, Aaron, is now 8 years old — healthy, active, and full of life.

“As a nurse, you really need to know you’re doing things for a patient that could be simple, but life-changing,” Perry said. “Seeing her and saying thank you is all I wanted, and it finally happened.”

Reunion brought long-awaited closure For Emana, the reunion offered closure and gratitude after nearly a decade.

“In that moment, I could finally say the words I’ve held onto for eight years: ‘Thank you!'” she said.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

Lyons police chief says he’s frustrated that he can’t keep serial porch pirate behind bars

CNN Newsource on October 1, 2025

By Marissa Sulek

Click here for updates on this story

    LYONS, Chicago (WBBM) — Local News Lyons police chief says he’s frustrated that he can’t keep serial porch pirate behind bars chicago By Marissa Sulek Updated on: September 30, 2025 / 10:41 PM CDT / CBS Chicago

Suburban police said they’re fed up with a serial porch pirate who continues to be let out of jail.

A homeowner who took things into his own hands to help stop the thief. Now, a police chief is speaking out, saying he’s frustrated they can’t keep the man behind bars, and shared how he may be choosing his targets.

Lyons police said 27-year-old Joseph Davenport is the man who has been stealing packages from suburban homes for months.

Jaleel Anthony was also fed up with the serial porch pirate. He confronted him, with a gun in hand, after placing fake packages to lure him. Police later found Davenport’s car had over 30 packages inside.

“I walked into the detectives a couple days ago and said, ‘I do not want to hear the name Davenport again.'”

Lyons Police Chief Thomas Herion said they have charged Davenport six different times for theft, and it’s costing taxpayers thousands of dollars.

Court documents from a 2023 case indicated that Davenport worked at the Amazon sorting center in University Park. Chief Herion believes that’s the method to his madness.

“Every single theft we’ve had, the packages are delivered in 15 to 30 minutes, he shows up,” he said.

Police sent out an alert in the last few weeks. In it, they said Davenport indicated he was working with another person inside Amazon, but would not give any other information when he was questioned.

Chief Herion said they’ve spoken with Amazon, but they would not cooperate.

Another frustration for herion, he said, is that because of the Illinois Safe-T Act, they cannot detain Davenport with a misdemeanor theft charge. So once they catch him, they must release him.

“We are trying to coordinate with the state’s attorney’s office to upgrade charges against this individual,” Herion said.

As to what Davenport is doing with the packages, Chief Herion says they still are not sure, but they plan to search his cell phone and find out in the coming weeks.

“I think everyone needs to know about this individual. I’d be shocked if he wasn’t doing this throughout the city of Chicago,” he said.

CBS News Chicago reached out to Amazon for a comment, but haven’t heard back.

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Government Shutdown: Former Local Leaders Debate the Blame

KEYT on October 1, 2025

Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) When the United States Senate failed to pass a short-term spending bill before the September 30 deadline, the impasse triggered a federal government shutdown that began at midnight in Washington, D.C.

Before the shutdown, former State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson and former Santa Barbara City Council Member Dale Francisco shared their perspectives.

Jackson is a Democrat. Francisco is a Republican.

“You know, the President of the United States at one point defined the closure of government as the fault of the president before he was the president. It is the responsibility of our leader to make sure that we can come together. But he has abdicated that responsibility. He doesn’t want that to happen. He wants to see the government shut down,” said Jackson.

Jackson added that while Republicans hold all the branches of government, Democrats are focusing on health care.

“They want concessions on health care that are going to impact the lives of millions of Americans. They want to end the cuts to Medicaid that are about to occur in January,” Jackson said.

She argued that those in power are not willing to negotiate.

“At the end of the day, this falls upon the Republicans. It falls upon the Republican Congress, and it falls on the President of the United States,” Jackson said.

The immediate impacts are already being felt. About 750,000 federal employees are facing furloughs or working without pay. The Federal Aviation Administration expects more than 11,000 of its workers to be sidelined, raising concerns about airline delays and training backlogs.

National Parks and public lands are closing visitor centers and cutting services. Social Security and Medicare checks are still going out, but support staff and customer service are limited. Past shutdowns have also shown the economic cost can add up quickly. The 2018–19 shutdown carried an estimated 11 billion dollar hit to the U.S. economy, with some losses never recovered.

Francisco sees the negotiations another way.

“I think the Democrats would really be making a mistake to do it, both politically and rationally. But they might feel driven to it because their base wants them to stand up to Trump,” Francisco said.

He pointed to possible cuts.“Bureaucracies that Trump would be happy to get rid of will lay people off,” said Francisco.

He argued Democrats are in a difficult spot.“What we do know is that the Democrats are not faced with any good choices in this. The whole idea that the leadership is resisting and saying we will drive it to a shutdown if we need to, that is not a good choice for them. It is a lose-lose situation, actually,” Francisco said.

Francisco added that local impacts are likely to be minor.“The big effect is going to be in Washington, D.C., and Trump has said he is fine with an opportunity to lay off more federal workers,” Francisco said.

Jackson, however, expressed concern about the ripple effects.“Trump has threatened to fire federal workers, so who knows what is going to happen with these different agencies. It is an opportunity for him to create more and more chaos,” said Jackson.

Both agreed that National Parks would be impacted immediately, but essential services would continue.

U.S. Senators said they plan to return to a vote first thing Wednesday morning, and that vote could change the outcome.

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Area lawmakers agree Columbia should form taskforce, disagree on road to solutions

KMIZ on October 1, 2025

Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

State lawmakers are reacting to the outpouring response by local leaders and community organizations following a deadly downtown Columbia shooting over the University of Missouri’s Homecoming weekend.

Columbia police responded to a shooting in the 800 block of East Broadway just before 2 a.m. Saturday. Police found three people shot; one woman, Aiyanna Williams later died from her wounds.

Following the shooting, University of Missouri System President Mun Choi publicly called on city and county leaders to crack down on crime and suggested the creation of a task force. He also involved Gov. Mike Kehoe into conversations of crime prevention in the downtown Columbia and campus areas.

Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe then listed actions the city government and Columbia Police Department have taken and wrote she would form a taskforce for crime downtown. She wrote CPD added eight officers to night patrols, a 20% increase in staffing since last summer.

State Rep. Kathy Steinhoff (D-Columbia) said on Tuesday she supports the creation of a taskforce for crime prevention, but called the fallout a political firestorm.

“I was very disappointed in how it was handled,” Steinhoff said. “I think that it did not need to be this public calling out of one entity on how another one is doing their business and then immediately calling for support from the state level.”

The police department has also recently ramped up its enforcement of misdemeanor offenses downtown in an effort to reduce violent incidents. Steinhoff said she feels like it’s a step in the right direction.

“They’re enforcing things like jaywalking and just trying to make sure that our community understands that there are things that we need to do in order to have a safe community,” Steinhoff said.

Former Missouri State Rep. Chuck Basye (R-Boone County) said he also support the idea of a task force, but feels like more police officers would also help.

“Hiring more of these men and women that want to be police officers, maybe bringing back in some retired folks would be a great asset to the community,” Basye said.

However, he said he understands the training process is long and experience is important.

“There’s a lot of, police officers that are that are relatively new, within five years, in the Columbia Police Department,” Basye said. “But we need to do more and I think more law enforcement would be a great first step in the right direction.”

Steinhoff said there’s also a need for stricter gun laws at the state level, a sentiment that was also shared by Buffaloe in her statement.

‘We have some of the loosest gun laws in the country,” Steinhoff said. “There was not a law in place that would have helped that those police, even if they had had an idea that he was agitated, even if they had had an idea he had a gun on him, even if they had the idea that he was among so many people, there was really not a law in place that they could have stopped him from doing what he did.”

Basye said there is not a law that could be passed that would have prevented Saturday morning’s shooting and that the push needs to come from the prosecution and action against crimes.

“A beautiful, young lady lost her life because somebody didn’t care what the law was and acted in a violent manner,” Basye said. “We need to get more aggressive and crack down on these criminal elements.”

Columbia Police Chief Jill Schlude made her first public statement on Tuesday acknowledging local concerns of violence downtown. Schlude said her department is prioritizing downtown crime efforts and focusing on reestablishing a unit focused on crime in that area, set to be implemented by summer 2026.

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Oregon agency announces upcoming federal changes to SNAP benefits

KTVZ on October 1, 2025

Barney Lerten

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Oregon Department of Human Services is announcing federally required changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in Oregon.

These changes are required under House Resolution (H.R. 1), a federal law passed on July 4, 2025. More than 740,000 people in Oregon currently receive SNAP benefits, and ODHS expects more than 313,000 people enrolled in SNAP may be impacted by the H.R. 1 changes.

“We are announcing these changes today so that families can prepare for the impact we expect many Oregonians who depend on this resource will feel,” said Dana Hittle, who is co-leading ODHS’ federal response team. “Oregon families enrolled in SNAP receive an average of $300 a month, and any reduction makes it harder for families to put food on the table. Oregon has no choice but to follow federal law that will result in increased hardship across our communities, but we remain committed to helping families adjust and prepare.”

ODHS will begin notifying affected households in mid-October. The people who will be most affected by the new federal law include older adults, immigrants and people living in rural communities with limited access to transportation.

Governor Tina Kotek issued the following statement:

“The federal cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are simply wrong, and they will hurt Oregon families. I strongly oppose these changes. Our top priority now is making sure every impacted Oregonian knows what’s changing and where to turn for help. No one should have to choose between food and rent, and my administration is mobilizing to ensure that those affected get the information and referrals for other help that they need.”

The changes won’t happen to everyone at once — they will roll out over the next year.

For people who already get SNAP: The changes will affect those who applied or recertified between July 4 and Oct. 1, 2025. Notices will be sent around Oct. 15, 2025 to this first group of people who are impacted. The first group will have SNAP benefit reductions or closures on Nov. 1, 2025. For people approved for SNAP before July 4, 2025, the changes will happen over time throughout the next year and a notice will be sent.

For people who apply or reapply for SNAP after Oct. 1, 2025: The new rules will apply right away.

Key changes affecting people in Oregon

These changes will affect three main groups of SNAP recipients: households receiving utility assistance, able-bodied adults ages 18 through 64 with no child under age 14 in their SNAP group, and certain lawfully present immigrants.

Utility assistance and SNAP benefits

Households previously eligible for the Heating and Cooling Full Utility Allowance (FUA) through energy assistance programs like Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) or “Heat and Eat” will see changes.

Only households with at least one member who is age 60 or older or a member with a disability will automatically qualify for FUA.

Approximately 29,000 households will lose this allowance, reducing their SNAP benefits by an average of $58 per month.

About 9,600 households who applied or renewed between July 4 and Oct. 1, 2025 will get notices around Oct. 15, 2025. Their SNAP will be reduced Nov. 1, 2025.

Another 20,000 households will see benefits go down when their SNAP is reviewed.

Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD)

Beginning Oct 1, 2025, people with ABAWD status in 6 counties (Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, Yamhill, Benton, and Hood River) will be reviewed at application or renewal for required work rules.

People who don’t meet work rules may lose SNAP benefits after 3 months.

The work rules will apply to adults ages 18–64 without a disability or without children under age 14 in their SNAP household. Previously the work rules applied to adults ages 18 to 54 without a child under 18 in their SNAP household.

People with ABAWD status must work or participate in a qualifying activity for at least 80 hours per month.

Veterans, people experiencing homelessness and young adults aging out of foster care are no longer exempt from the work rules.

Tribal Members and people who meet the federal definition of “Indian, Urban Indian, or California Indian” are newly exempt from the work rules.

In January 2026 these ABAWD requirements will be implemented statewide.

It’s estimated that 310,000 adults will have to be newly evaluated to see if they have to meet the work rules.

Refugees, Asylees and certain other lawfully present immigrants

Refugees, asylees, trafficking survivors and other conditionally allowed non-citizens who were eligible for SNAP as of July 3, 2025, will lose eligibility under H.R. 1.

In Oregon, it’s estimated that at least 3,000 individuals will no longer qualify for benefits.

About 1,000 people who applied or renewed their SNAP between July 4 and Oct. 1, 2025 will get notices around Oct. 15, 2025. Their SNAP will end on Oct. 31, 2025.

Another 2,000 people will lose SNAP when their SNAP is reviewed.

Notifications to households

   Around Oct. 15, 2025, ODHS will mail notices to:

Roughly 9,600 households receiving energy assistance to notify them that their SNAP benefits will be reduced starting November 1, 2025.

Approximately 1,000 refugees, asylees and other lawfully present immigrants whose SNAP cases will close on Oct. 31, 2025.

Affected households do not need to take any action. ODHS will adjust benefits automatically.

Preparing for changes

If you think you may be in one of the impacted groups, go to www.oregon.gov/odhs to learn more.

Watch your mail for notices from ODHS and open them right away. The first wave of notices will be sent on Oct. 15, 2025.

If you think the ABAWD work requirements may apply to you, don’t wait to start planning how to meet them. Call the ODHS ABAWD team directly at 833-947-1694 or SNAP.ABAWDTeam@odhsoha.oregon.gov.

Know what other food resources are in your community.

The ODHS Food Resources website can help.

Older adults and people with disabilities can connect with Aging and Disability Resource Connection of Oregon to learn about government programs and community resources at 1-855-673-2372 or www.adrcoforegon.org.

Reach out to 211info by dialing 2-1-1, texting your zip code to 898-211 or visiting www.211info.org

Contact ODHS

If you have questions or need help understanding these changes, contact ODHS:

By phone: Call 1-800-699-9075 or 711 (TTY), relay calls welcome

In person: Visit a local office (find one online)

By Mail: (Requests must be received by the deadline)ONE Customer Service Center, PO Box 14015, Salem, OR 97309

By email: Send requests toOregon.Benefits@odhsoha.oregon.gov

Online: Submit requests through a ONE Online account

About SNAP in Oregon:

SNAP is a cornerstone of Oregon’s fight against hunger, helping more than 1 in 6 people in Oregon, approximately 27 percent of households, afford groceries. This includes children, working families, older adults, and people with disabilities. Every $1 in SNAP benefits generates $1.50 to $1.80 in local economic activity. SNAP drives an estimated $1.6 billion into the Oregon economy each year. But even with SNAP benefits, many families still struggle to meet their basic needs, especially amid the rising cost of food and housing. Everyone deserves access to healthy food, and the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) is committed to making sure people in Oregon receive the right amount of SNAP food benefits they qualify for.

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