Your Must-See News Headlines for Today, October 15

A DNA test has reunited a central California mother with the long-lost child she thought she had lost at birth. Read on for details.

A former Panera worker had the internet buzzing when she posted a video that showed how the chain prepares its macaroni and cheese.

And Taco Bell issues a major recall of seasoned beef after a customer found a metal shaving in the food.

Here’s what you need to know in the daily roundup.

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TOP STORY: A Mother Is Reunited With Her Son Decades After She Was Told The Baby Had Died

Central California woman Tina Bejarano gave birth to her first child nearly three decades ago, when she was 17 years old. But she only recently learned that her son was alive and healthy, thanks to a DNA test.

Bejarano explained to Fox affiliate KMPH-TV that after giving birth, her own mother had, at first, insisted she couldn’t keep the baby. But the following day, her mother told her that the baby had been sick and “died 15 minutes after it was born.”

Bejarano later married husband Eric Gardere, and they went on to have five children together. But each year, they celebrated the lost child’s birthday and Bejarano said she never stopped mourning.

In 2018, Bejarano’s daughter convinced her to take a DNA test. It turned out to be the best decision she had ever made, because her long-lost child had also taken a DNA test. Bejarano soon received an email from a man in New Jersey, Kristin “Kris” Cooke. “I think we need to talk, it says we’re related, and it says you’re my mom.”

Bejarano’s mother had lied. The child had survived, was adopted as an infant, and grew up in the Las Vegas area. Kristin Cooke is now married with a daughter of his own. He and his family are planning to meet Bejarano and Gardere in-person for the first time at Thanksgiving. Read more about their story here.

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WHAT’S BUZZING THAT HAS EVERYONE TALKING: Panera Employee Was Fired After Sharing Video of Frozen Mac ‘N Cheese

A college student in Arizona shared a video that revealed the fact that Panera’s macaroni and cheese is prepared using a packet of frozen ingredients that is heated in boiling water. Brianna Ramirez posted the video to TikTok and it quickly went viral. She wrote on the post that she was “exposing” Panera.

Ramirez later clarified that she meant it as a joke. She said in a follow-up post that while Panera’s macaroni and cheese and soups are frozen, she finds them delicious. “There is not a reason not to eat it. It is perfectly fine, most stores have frozen food, frozen pastas, frozen meats, other stores have frozen things and you still eat it. … They’re frozen, but then they get warmed up. They still taste good, they taste the same. Don’t stop eating at Panera.”

But joke or not, Ramirez lost her job at Panera. She said she was told her firing was due to the video going viral. Ramirez wrote on Twitter that she understands her boss’ decision because having her phone out near the food had been a “risk to food safety and health regulations. Everything was completely justified. I made a mistake and I’ve learned from it.”

A spokesperson for Panera, Jessica Hesselschwerdt, would not confirm that Ramirez was fired to the TikTok video. But she told USA Today that the restaurant freezes its mac ‘n cheese and soups in order “to avoid using certain preservatives that do not meet our clean standards.”

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OFF-BEAT:Taco Bell Recalled 2.3 Million Pounds of Seasoned Beef

Taco Bell customers in 21 states may find it challenging to find a beef burrito in the next few days. The company announced that it had issued a recall of 2.3 million pounds of its seasoned beef.

The product has been removed from distribution centers and restaurants located in the eastern Midwest, northern Southeast and Northeast regions, according to a Taco Bell news release Monday. The distribution centers were located in Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Virginia.

Taco Bell recalled the beef after a customer reported finding a metal shaving in a menu item. No injuries have been reported. Julie Masino, the president of Taco Bell North America, explained, “As soon as we received the first consumer complaint, we immediately acted to remove the product from the affected restaurants and proactively worked with the supplier to inform the USDA of our steps to protect our guests.”

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DAILY NEWS ROUNDUP

• Aaron Dean, the former Forth Worth police officer who resigned after shooting and killing Atatiana Jefferson through her bedroom window, has been charged with murder.
• A 4.5-magnitude earthquake shook California’s San Francisco Bay area Monday night.
• Semyon Kislin, a longtime associate of Rudy Giuliani who was accused of having ties to the Russian mob, has agreed to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry but claims he has no relevant knowledge.
• Sonni Pacheco, the ex-wife of Avengers actor Jeremy Renner, says he threatened to kill her and abused drugs in front of their young daughter. Renner denies the allegations.
• 12 candidates will be on-stage tonight for the Democratic debate, which starts at 8 p.m. ET on CNN.

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CHECK THIS OUT

Here’s something to make you smile today– check out this adorable video of a little boy comforting his lil’ buddy! The video was posted on social media earlier this month and has since gone viral.

The older child is named Welles. His mother runs a Facebook blog page called @NothingDownAboutIt in which she posts about having a child with Down Syndrome.

In the post, Welles’ mother shared that she “could not get our buddy, baby Alek to calm down… Welles climbed up into the chair and said ‘mom… baby?’ with his arms stretched out. At that point, I decided he had tummy bubbles and I would let Welles just give him a quick love and then I would go back to rubbing his belly. As soon as I handed him over… he calmed. Welles sat and cuddled him, taking his job of baby whisperer very seriously, as I sat watching… thinking yet again… man, this kid is magical!”

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