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WI Rapids’ Safe Haven Baby Box has been purchased. What happens next?

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WI Rapids’ Safe Haven Baby Box has been purchased. What happens next?



A Safe Haven Baby Box has been purchased for Wisconsin Rapids. The next step is choosing the best alarm system for the project before it can be installed.

WISCONSIN RAPIDS − The city is close to having a Safe Haven Baby Box installed to help protect babies who are unwanted or unable to be cared for by their parents.

Volunteers have raised $35,000 for the Safe Haven Baby Box project and spent about $17,000 to pay for the box. The remainder will help to cover the cost of an alarm system and installation of the box in Wisconsin Rapids’ Fire Station 2, 1641 W. Grand Ave.

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Safe Haven Baby Boxes are secure, temperature-controlled, ventilated boxes that provide a place to anonymously put a newborn baby the mother can not or does not want to keep.

The project currently is waiting on the selection of an alarm system, said Linda Casper, who has led the efforts to get a Baby Box. Wisconsin Rapids Fire Chief Benjamin Goodreau is researching what system would be the best and most cost effective, Casper said. The alarm will alert the Wood County Communications Center when the box is opened. A delayed alarm then sounds after the baby is placed in the box and it is closed. The second alarm is delayed to allow the person dropping off the baby time to leave the area, Casper said.

Casper said she learned about the Baby Box when she was reading a newsletter from a state organization she and her husband belong to and found an article about the Safe Haven Baby Box. Casper thought it was a good idea for Wisconsin Rapids and contacted Wisconsin Rapids City Council member Jeff Penzkover about it. After discussions about a location that would work for the Baby Box, it was decided to place it at Wisconsin Rapids Fire Station 2.

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Once the alarm system is chosen, Altmann Construction will begin the process of installing the box, Casper said. The installation will require removing bricks from the outside wall of the fire station. Before the box can be put into service, the firefighters and some members of the Wood County Sheriff’s Office will have to be trained on the correct protocols for handling a baby being left in the box, Casper said. Fire Department administration also will have to adjust the protocols to fit the department, she said.

Since the efforts to get a Baby Box in Wisconsin Rapids have become known, Casper has been getting phone calls from people in other communities, including Marshfield and Wausau, who want to know how she got the project going.

How you can help

Although the initial cost of the Baby Box is covered, Casper and the other people who have worked to bring the lifesaving device to Wisconsin Rapids still are working on raising more money. The box will need to be inspected each year by Safe Haven and the alarm system will have a monthly fee, Casper said. She hopes to raise enough to cover the costs for years to come.

People interested in helping can send donations to: Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 1150 Second St. N., Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494. Please put “SHBB,” for Safe Haven Baby Box, on the memo line so church staff know where the money should go.

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Contact Karen Madden at kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33.



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Wisconsin

Thousands remain without power after Wisconsin storms

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Thousands remain without power after Wisconsin storms


About 12,000 customers were without power as of 9:19 p.m. June 10 after severe storms moved across Wisconsin, according to the We Energies outage map.

The 279 outages were affecting 12,095 customers.

The number of outages is down from the nearly 38,000 customers reported around 5:10 p.m.

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Which counties had the most power outages?

Kenosha County reported the highest number of We Energies customers without power, with 5,881, down from 10,221 around 8:45 p.m. Racine County had 1,631 customers without power, a change of just 13 customers in an hour and a half.

Other impacted areas include Dodge County with 1,491 customers without service, and Waukesha County with 1,438.

This story was updated to add new information.



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Severe thunderstorms bring power outages, wind damage to northeast Wisconsin

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Severe thunderstorms bring power outages, wind damage to northeast Wisconsin


GRAND CHUTE, Wis. (WBAY) — Severe thunderstorms moved through northeast Wisconsin on Wednesday afternoon, leaving thousands without power and causing widespread wind damage.

According to poweroutage.us, as of 4 p.m. Fond du Lac County has 2,900 customers without power and Dodge County is at 3,600.

A tornado warning for Fond du Lac County expired last hour, but severe thunderstorms continued across the region with large hail, high winds and heavy rainfall. Trees and branches were reported down across the area.

Rain began in Grand Chute as winds picked up just after 2 p.m. A severe thunderstorm warning issued for the area warned of 80 mph winds and asked residents to take shelter and move away from windows to an interior room.

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The storms produced widespread wind damage across Oshkosh, where 1,400 customers were without power. WPS reported more than 3,000 customers without power in Winnebago County.

Copyright 2026 WBAY. All rights reserved.



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Chris Borland heads back to Wisconsin as Hall of Fame inductee

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Chris Borland heads back to Wisconsin as Hall of Fame inductee


Chris Borland’s spot in Wisconsin’s Athletic Hall of Fame came with the kind of résumé that represented the modern Badgers defense: massive production, big-game hardware and Midwestern toughness.

Wisconsin selected Borland as one of 12 athletes, staff, and supporters in the class of 2026 Hall of Fame inductees. The group will enter the Hall of Fame the weekend of Sept. 18 this fall, with Borland and the rest of the class honored during Wisconsin’s matchup against Eastern Michigan on Sept. 19 at Camp Randall Stadium.

Borland starred at linebacker for Wisconsin from 2009 to 2013 and finished as one of the program’s most decorated defenders of the era. He earned 2013 first-team All-America honors, won Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and closed his career with 420 tackles. He also played in three Rose Bowls, anchoring a defense built around physicality, instincts and tackling that excelled in big moments.

Borland’s induction adds a football centerpiece to a nine-sport Hall of Fame class, and it lands on a weekend that will bring a full Camp Randall spotlight back to former Badgers. Wisconsin fans will get their on-field Hall of Fame moment on Sept. 19, when the Badgers host Eastern Michigan and Borland’s career highlights take center stage again in Madison.

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