Georgia
Georgia Tech innovator develops home cervical cancer screening device for women
Student wins award for new cervical cancer screening
A DeKalb County native studying at Georgia Tech has a bright idea that many women will have interest in. An early detection of cervical cancer has saved many lives, but many women will tell you getting tested is not fun. The student looks to help with that.
ATLANTA – A Georgia Tech student is hoping to change the way women experience cervical cancer screenings with a new device designed to be more comfortable and accessible than traditional Pap smears.
Rakeb Tesfatsellassie, a junior at Georgia Tech and native of DeKalb County, is developing a home screening test for cervical cancer that she says could encourage more women to get tested. The idea was born from a personal motivation and a desire to improve outdated medical tools.
Cervical cancer home screening test
What they’re saying:
“It’s really an uncomfortable situation to be in,” Tesfatsellassie said. “My partner and I are around the same age, and we both said the same thing — we don’t want to do this. Hopefully by the time we start doing Pap smears, we would want to see new innovation.”
According to the American Cancer Society, more than 4,000 women in the U.S. are expected to die from cervical cancer this year. Tesfatsellassie’s prototype aims to make early detection more appealing by creating a test women can use at home.
“You can insert it yourself,” she said. “It should be softer silicone, not harder. You would be able to grab it and it’s comfortable to insert it in and out.”
The design is described as simple and intuitive.
“It’s similar looking to a tampon,” Tesfatsellassie said.
Doctors typically do not recommend Pap smears until age 21, but Tesfatsellassie began working on the concept at 20. She said her passion for early detection came after losing a close family member to cancer.
“I know how important it is to have early detection,” she said.
Georgia Tech student Rakeb Tesfatsellassie’s accolades
What we know:
Tesfatsellassie’s idea won last year’s Community College Innovation Challenge while she was enrolled at Georgia State’s Perimeter College. After transferring to Georgia Tech, she joined the university’s Create-X program, which supports student startups and innovations. The project has already received a provisional patent, and Tesfatsellassie and her team have formed a limited liability company.
What’s next:
“It’s not where you start,” she said. “It’s where you want to go.”
The Source: FOX 5’s Kevyn Stewart spoke with Rakeb Tesfatsellassie, a junior at Georgia Tech and native of DeKalb County, about developing a home screening test for cervical cancer.
Georgia
Co-owner of Yurezz Home Center in Greeneville arrested in Georgia
APPLING COUNTY, Ga. (WCYB) — The co-owner of Yurezz Home Center in Greeneville has been arrested in Georgia, according to a report obtained by News 5.
Earlier this week, News 5 told you about the dealership in Greeneville that abruptly shut down last month.
This has left homeowners with partially built homes and employees without jobs.
It is not yet clear why Richard Altman was taken into custody.
This is a developing story.
Georgia
Georgia Supreme Court upholds convictions of men in deadly shooting during gas station carjacking
Two men found guilty of murdering a man while he was pumping air into his tires at a Georgia gas station will remain in prison, the Georgia Supreme Court has ruled.
Miles Chatezal Collins and Josiah Hughley, Jr. had appealed to the state’s highest court after they were found guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, violating Georgia’s Street Gang, Terrorism and Prevention Act, and hijacking a motor vehicle, among other charges in 2025.
The men’s charges stem from a shooting on July 10, 2022, at a QuickTrip gas station in Peachtree Corners. According to the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office, 30-year-old Bradley Lamar Coleman had stopped at the gas station to fill up his tires when Collins, Hughley, and a third man pulled up beside him and tried to steal his Dodge Charger.
When Coleman tried to stop the men, officials say they shot him and fled the scene.
Authorities say the three men were members of the Blood gang and had tried to steal the car to increase their status.
While their first trial ended in a mistrial due to a comment by the prosecution, a jury found Collins, Hughley, and their co-defendant, David Jarrad Booker, guilty of more than a dozen charges in 2025. They were each sentenced to life plus 145 years in prison.
In Collins and Hughley’s appeal to the state Supreme Court, they argued that there was insufficient evidence to support some of the charges and that the judge in the case improperly admitted certain evidence and committed errors in instructing the jurors.
The justices’ rulings disagreed, finding that their attorneys failed to object to the supposed errors and that the two men’s claims were insufficient.
The judges also found that a claim by Hughley that his counsel failed him by not asserting that a statement made to law enforcement should have been suppressed. With those findings, the Supreme Court chose not to overrule the case, letting the convictions and sentences stand.
“We are grateful for this affirmation from the Georgia Supreme Court,” Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said. “Thanks to the incredible work of our team of trial and appellate prosecutors, and all of the staff that assisted with defending these convictions, two dangerous criminals will remain in prison.”
Booker’s appeal remains pending.
Georgia
Trooper injured in chain-reaction crash on Georgia 400
SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. – A Georgia State Patrol trooper sustained injuries Tuesday afternoon after striking the rear of a stopped vehicle on Georgia 400, triggering a three-vehicle chain-reaction crash.
What we know:
The collision happened around 3:43 p.m. on the northbound lanes just south of Abernathy Road.
A trooper was traveling north on Georgia 400 when traffic in front of the cruiser came to a sudden stop. The trooper was unable to halt in time and struck the rear of a second vehicle, which then slammed into a third vehicle.
All three vehicles sustained enough damage to be towed from the scene, according to the state patrol report. The trooper had visible injuries and received treatment onsite, while medics transported the second driver to a local hospital. The driver of the third car complained of injuries but refused medical treatment at the scene.
What we don’t know:
Officials have not yet confirmed the current medical conditions of the hospitalized driver or the injured trooper. It remains unclear what caused traffic to come to a sudden halt before the chain-reaction collision occurred.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from Lt. E. Starling of the Georgia State Patrol DPS Public Information Office, who provided the preliminary crash details in an official statement.
-
Lifestyle12 minutes agoAppeals court denies Trump’s request to halt removal of his name from the Kennedy Center
-
Technology20 minutes agoMeta is reportedly working on smart glasses that would be recording all the time
-
World27 minutes agoTrump says ‘Iran lies and cheats’ as IRGC emerges as dominant force in negotiations with US
-
Politics30 minutes agoWho is Valli Geiger? Meet the Maine Dem that Platner urged to run for Senate
-
Health35 minutes agoDeadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreak sparks concern in major US city: Know the symptoms
-
Sports42 minutes agoCaitlin Clark’s return falls flat after Fever coach limits her in loss to shorthanded Sparks
-
Business50 minutes ago
Commentary: Trump wants to let companies make fewer disclosures, thus keeping investors in the dark
-
Entertainment57 minutes agoJustin Baldoni and wife break silence after ‘It Ends With Us’ legal battle with Blake Lively