Oregonians will soon need to meet federal security standards and get a REAL ID by May 7, 2025 if they want to fly domestically.
Here’s how to get a REAL ID, why they are required and why you should make plans to get one soon.
What is a REAL ID?
A REAL ID is a state-issued driver’s license, permit or ID card that meets federal security standards, according to a press release from the Oregon Department of Transportation.
An Oregon REAL ID has a star inside a black circle on the upper right corner of the card. Renewing identification without opting for a REAL ID will show “Not for REAL ID Act” in the upper right corner.
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Why will REAL IDs be required?
In 2005, Congress passed the REAL ID Act in response to the 9/11 Commission’s recommendation to improve protection and “establish minimum security standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards,” according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Can I still fly after May 7, 2025 if I don’t get a REAL ID?
No. Past the May deadline, any person 18 years or older without a REAL ID, passport, passport card or military ID won’t be able to board domestic flights.
Chris Crabb, public information officer for the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles, said 51% of Oregonians have their passport.
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REAL IDs cannot be used as a passport alternative to board foreign flights, and Oregonians will still be able to legally drive, vote or prove their identity without a REAL ID.
How to get a REAL ID in Oregon?
Oregonians can get a REAL ID at any DMV office by walk-in or appointment. Applicants must bring documents that prove their identity, date of birth, social security number, two different proofs of address and lawful status in the United States.
There will be an up to 20-day wait period before the REAL ID arrives in the mail after completing the application.
How much does a REAL ID cost in Oregon?
REAL IDs cost $30 each time you apply, and that fee comes in addition to the regular costs for an original, renewal or replacement of a standard Oregon driver’s license, permit or ID card. Getting a REAL ID does not change the expiration date on your card.
An original standard driver’s license costs $64, an ID card costs $47 and a permit is $30.
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Renewal of a standard driver’s license costs $54, an ID card costs $43 and a permit is $26.
Replacement of a standard driver’s license costs $30, an ID card costs $40 and a permit is $30.
Why should I make plans to get a REAL ID in Oregon ASAP?
Crabb said the DMV is expecting an influx of REAL ID seekers toward the deadline, so they’re hoping people can make the switch as soon as possible.
Since the option became available in 2020, one-third of the state’s license, instruction permit or identification card holders have opted to switch to a REAL ID — a little over a million people, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Applicants who show up two weeks before the deadline might not receive the REAL ID in time if they are traveling close to the deadline, she said. Temporary paper cards will not be accepted.
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“The sooner you get it, the less you’ll probably have to wait,” Crabb said.
Alexander Banks is an AAJA-SPJ reporting intern at the Statesman Journal. Reach him at abanks@statesmanjournal.com
Reused wastewater is at the center of residents’ latest complaint against industry giants.
Port of Morrow’s East Beach Facility in Boardman, Oregon, on April 15, 2022.
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Monica Samayoa / OPB
The legal team behind a lawsuit against some of Eastern Oregon’s biggest agricultural businesses is headed back to court with a new case over drinking water pollution.
On Friday, the attorneys filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of four Lower Umatilla Basin residents.
The complaint accuses Portland General Electric and Columbia River Processing, a Morrow County subsidiary of Tillamook Creamery, of polluting the basin’s groundwater by sending nitrate-rich wastewater to the Port of Morrow.
The port delivers the wastewater to farms that reuse it to fertilize fields.
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The Dec. 5 complaint comes on the heels of a 2024 lawsuit accusing the port, as well as several farms and food processors, of polluting the basin’s groundwater.
“We believe Portland General Electric and Tillamook need to do right by their Oregon communities and cease all practices contributing to this contamination,” according to a statement from Steve Berman, a lead attorney for the residents.
A representative from PGE declined to comment. Tillamook Creamery did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nitrates are chemicals often found in fertilizers and wastewater. Consuming large quantities of nitrates can lead to illnesses like cancer and kidney disease. Babies and pregnant parents are especially vulnerable.
The state has known about Eastern Oregon’s problem with nitrate pollution for more than 35 years.
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Oregon declared parts of western Umatilla County and northern Morrow County, the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area in 1990, but nitrate levels have only risen since then.
Studies have shown that the largest contributor to nitrate pollution is irrigated agriculture, which often uses fertilizer and wastewater to maximize crop yields. Excess nitrates then seep through the soil and groundwater. Food processors and livestock farms are also contributors.
The lawsuit argues that PGE’s Coyote Springs power plant and Columbia River Processing were significant polluters.
The lawsuit states that all four of the plaintiffs were harmed because they lived near farms that used PGE and Tillamook’s wastewater to fertilize crops.
Private wells, which many basin residents who live outside cities rely on for water, are especially at risk for nitrate pollution because they’re not subject to the same water quality standards as municipal systems.
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Two of the plaintiffs, Michael Pearson, who is also a part of the lawsuit filed last year, and Jeffrey Fleming, are on private wells.
But the other two plaintiffs, Rosa Cavasos of Boardman and Jon Haley of Irrigon, rely on their cities for their drinking water.
The lawsuit states that both started buying bottled water after learning about local nitrate pollution. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has labeled both Boardman and Irrigon’s water systems as having “substantial nitrate risk” because of elevated levels found in the cities’ supplies.
Should a jury ultimately side with basin residents, it could require action from PGE and Tillamook, in addition to financial compensation.
The lawsuit is also seeking to certify well water owners and municipal water customers as classes that could later join the other plaintiffs, a move that could potentially add thousands more people to the lawsuit.
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Although efforts are already underway to connect basin residents with clean water, the complaint asks the court to make the companies cover the costs of connecting residents to municipal water systems or digging deeper wells.
The companies would also be required to create a medical monitoring program for residents on private wells.
The basin residents filed their complaint as the 2024 lawsuit continues to wind its way through the court system.
The businesses in that case tried to get the complaint dismissed by arguing that federal courts don’t have jurisdiction over nitrate regulation. They claimed that authority belongs with state agencies like DEQ and the Oregon Department of Agriculture.
In March, a federal judge in Pendleton allowed the lawsuit to proceed and referred it to a federal court in Portland.
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Ashland Community Hospital’s childbirth and inpatient services will be consolidated to Asante’s Medford medical center.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Another Oregon health care organization is making cuts.
The brick-and-mortar Ashland Community Hospital will shutter in 2026, Asante revealed on Wednesday. The Medford-based medical care provider announced that the facility will continue operating through the year before transitioning into a “satellite campus” of the nearby Rogue Regional Medical Center in the spring.
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In a statement, Asante President and CEO Tom Gessel said the “transition is the only option” as health care entities across the U.S. — and specifically in Oregon — continue to struggle. He noted that the Ashland Community Hospital has “lost millions of dollars” over the past year, as the facility simultaneously recorded a significant decrease in birth rates and inpatient admissions.
According to Asante, 37 Ashland residents have given birth in the hospital so far in 2025. Meanwhile, the organization reported that the demand for outpatient services and emergency department visits has risen.
“Legislation implemented in Salem has put hospitals in an untenable situation,” Gessel added in a statement, in part. “This will only worsen with the future reductions to Medicaid funding. For smaller communities like ours, consolidating duplicative services are inevitable — especially those in such close proximity. What this means for the Ashland campus is to maintain emergency and outpatient services being used most by residents, while consolidating services that are underutilized.”
The Asante announcement comes days after Portland’s Vibra Specialty Hospital announced it will cease operations around Feb. 1, 2026. The closure will impact 310 employees.
The Oregon Nurses Association has condemned both organizations’ decisions to cut back, arguing that workers and patients deserve “long-term investments” in medical care.
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“These closures represent a devastating loss of critical healthcare access for Oregonians, forcing patients to travel farther for care, increasing risks in emergencies, and placing additional strain on an already overburdened health system,” ONA said in a release.
Providence Seaside Hospital also stopped offering labor and delivery services earlier in October of this year.
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A double punch of Oregon hospital facility closures drew condemnation Thursday from the Oregon Nurses Association, which cast the developments as “a devastating loss of critical health care access for Oregonians” that will strain an already overburdened health system and force patients to travel farther to seek care.
On Monday came the news that 73-bed Vibra Specialty Hospital of Portland would shutter, leaving Oregon without a long-term acute care hospital, a facility that generally cares for patients with complex needs after they have been stabilized and discharged from a traditional hospital.
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Then, on Wednesday, came news from down the Interstate 5 corridor. Asante Ashland Community Hospital, a historic 49-bed inpatient facility, said it would eliminate inpatient services and a birthing center next year as it diminishes into a satellite campus of a larger hospital 11 miles up the freeway.
Under the plan, the hospital would retain its emergency department and outpatient operations. “We want to lean into what services at this facility the community is accessing, which is emergency services in the ED, outpatient surgeries and imaging,” Medford-based Asante said on a webpage, emphasizing that birth rates at the hospital have declined.
Echoing the rationales offered by Vibra leaders on Monday, the Asante CEO said the decision was a response to a worsening financial and regulatory landscape for Oregon hospitals.
“Bold, difficult decisions are needed to combat the headwinds,” Tom Gessel, president and CEO of Asante, said in a statement. “Legislation implemented in Salem has put hospitals in an untenable situation. This will only worsen with the future reductions to Medicaid funding. For smaller communities like ours, consolidating duplicative services are inevitable—especially those in such close proximity.”
The Asante System’s claims of money issues have, however, raised questions.
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In 2023 and 2024—the two most recent fiscal years for which audited financial statements are available—the health system reported a collective overall profit of more than $240 million.
Meanwhile, financial data from the Oregon Health Authority says Asante Ashland Community Hospital itself made millions of dollars in 2024 and continued doing so through the first half of 2025, with operating margins that outpaced those of most hospitals in the state.
As The Lund Report earlier noted, Asante, in apparent contradiction to that information, is now asserting in external communications that its finances have gone south. A Wednesday news release from the health system included a statement from the CEO saying that “this past year, Ashland Community Hospital lost millions of dollars.” A separate FAQ on Asante’s website said the “facility is on pace to lose $7.3 million.”
An Asante spokesperson did not respond by deadline to a question from WW about the discrepancy between the information Asante is issuing and state data.
The state says its data comes from information self-reported by hospitals.
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That wrinkle notwithstanding, the ONA frames the retreats, just the latest in a wave of Oregon heath care facility closures in recent months, as part of a broader crisis. The crisis, it says, is fueled by health care funding cuts under the Trump administration and the “increasing corporatization of health care, which prioritizes profit over patients and community needs.”
