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Which states have reimposed mask mandates and which are resisting

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Several states have reinstated indoor mask mandates as the delta variant continues to rip across the country, but others have fiercely resisted and imposed bans on such rules.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a guidance update late July that vaccinated people may be able to spread COVID-19 and should resume wearing masks in public indoor settings in areas with high transmission levels, a reversal of May’s guidance that said they didn’t need to mask up. The unvaccinated are still urged to wear masks in public.

The guidance also called for universal masking in schools — a contentious issue that has triggered a slew of lawsuits.

Masking has long been a divisive issue, despite science indicating that face coverings are “critical” in the battle against transmitting the disease, according to the CDC. At the same time, misinformation about face coverings has proliferated and changing guidance has added to the confusion.

Currently, at least four states and Puerto Rico have indoor mask mandates for the vaccinated and unvaccinated: Oregon, Nevada, Hawaii, Louisiana.

Most states have not issued new mandates — focusing on vaccination instead — but a number, including California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Washington, have recommended constituents follow the CDC’s guidance. Each state’s guidelines vary slightly.

On the other hand, the idea of masking up once again, has been met with resistance in some places.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, said the CDC guidance on masks “will unfortunately only diminish confidence in the vaccine and create more challenges for public health officials.” Other officials have argued against mask mandates, citing arguments like parental freedom.

Worry over delta variant

Concern is mounting over the surge of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations among children, now at their most dire level yet in the entire pandemic.

Nearly 94,000 new child COVID-19 cases were reported last week, with the worst numbers in Louisiana and Florida, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) reported.

Nationwide, COVID-19 has surged at an alarming rate in recent weeks. The daily COVID-19 case average in the U.S. has surged to more than 113,000, up by 24.3% in the last week, according to the latest federal data. Hospitalizations have also soared, hitting its highest point in six months with more than 75,000 patients currently hospitalized across the country with COVID-19.

So far, 59% of the US population over the age of 12 is fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. There is still no vaccine authorized for kids under the age of 12.

A number of states — Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Virginia and Washington state — have also called for masking in schools.

But efforts to ban masks in schools in several states, such as Florida, Texas, South Carolina and Arkansas, have sparked bitter backlash and legal battles.

Kentucky and Arkansas

In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, signed an executive order Tuesday requiring masks for all schools, a move immediately slammed by state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican.

Cameron filed a response to the mask mandate in schools on Wednesday with the Kentucky Supreme Court, arguing the governor’s order goes against laws passed in the General Assembly this year. He accused the governor of engaging “in an unlawful exercise of power by issuing his executive order,” in a statement.

Earlier this year lawmakers passed bills to restrict the governor’s power to mandate health restrictions like masks. He vetoed the legislation, but was overturned, and Beshear filed a lawsuit. Now the case is pending a Supreme Court decision, which has yet to hand down a ruling.

In a press conference Tuesday, Beshear cited grim COVID-19 numbers as the reason for the mandate, as the state reported 2,500 new COVID-19 cases, with 490 among individuals 18-years-old and younger, that day.

“We cannot keep our kids in school if we’re unwilling to put on a mask,” Beshear said. “It’s everywhere, and we all need to act like we’re in that red zone.”

In Arkansas, the state’s Department of Education recommended students wear masks in schools on Tuesday, in line with the CDC guidance, but didn’t mandate it.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, said earlier this month that he regrets signing an April law banning mask mandates as virus infections surged among unvaccinated youth.

He called on lawmakers to consider rolling back the ban for schools but faced fierce opposition among his GOP peers. Last week, a judge temporarily blocked the state from enforcing that law, saying it violates the state’s constitution, and several schools have since announced mask requirements, local ABC affiliate KATV reported.

Hutchinson said he supports the judge’s decision.

“It is conservative, reasonable and compassionate to allow local school districts to protect those students who are under 12 and not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine,” he said on masking in schools last week.

Texas

Meanwhile in Texas, at least two districts, Austin ISD and Dallas ISD, have defied Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s May executive order banning mask mandates.

The Southern Center for Child Advocacy, a nonprofit education group, filed a lawsuit Sunday night in Travis County against the ban, seeking to give power to local districts to decide for themselves. No response has been filed in that case yet.

The ban has faced litigation from city and county officials in Dallas and Bexar counties. The Harris County Attorney also announced Tuesday plans to take legal action against Abbott’s ban on mask mandates, though but documents have not yet been filed.

“First responders and school leaders are speaking out and standing up as delta ravages our community. We have their back,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a statement Tuesday. “Protecting the community during an emergency is a duty, not an option for government leaders.”

On Tuesday two separate state district judges granted local authorities in those counties temporary power to issue mask mandates on Tuesday, the Texas Tribune reported. Both decisions are temporary and pending hearings later this month.

The following day the governor and state Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a petition to halt the judge’s order in Dallas County. “Any school district, public university, or local government official that decides to defy GA-38—which prohibits gov’t entities from mandating masks—will be taken to court,” Abbott said in a statement.

“Removing government mandates, however, does not end personal responsibility or the importance of caring for family members, friends, and your community,” Abbott said in response to the lawsuits to CBS affiliate KHOU-11. “Vaccines are the most effective defense against contracting COVID and becoming seriously ill, and we continue to urge all eligible Texans to get the vaccine.”

Florida

Florida is facing least three lawsuits against its ban on school mask mandates: one filed by a parent in Broward County, another by parents in several counties including Miami-Dade and Palm Beach and a third in Orange and Volusia counties.

In late July, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order directing the state’s health and education departments to bar the use of face coverings in school. DeSantis said that move was meant to “protect parents’ freedom to choose whether their children wear masks.”

DeSantis said in a press conference last month Florida students shouldn’t be “muzzled” during the school year, adding, “We need them to be able to breathe.”

Despite the order, several school districts have announce masks will be mandatory for the 2021-22 school year.

Despite public outcry, many governors are doubling down in their refusal to reimpose masks.

In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster said on the heels of the CDC guidance release, “State law now prohibits school administrators from requiring students to wear a mask…Shutting our state down, closing schools and mandating masks is not the answer. Personal responsibility is.”

State positions on masking are still changing. A number of states never created a mask mandate in the pandemic, including Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Idaho.

Tony Bennett cancels 2021 tour dates, is retiring from the road, says manager

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Tony Bennett has canceled his fall and winter 2021 tour dates, according to Variety.

The legendary crooner — who marked his 95th birthday last week by performing with Lady Gaga at two-sold out shows at New York’s Radio City Music Hall — has pulled out of concerts in New York, Maryland, Connecticut, Arizona, Oklahoma and Canada.

The tour — consisting of pre-pandemic show dates that had been rescheduled — was set to begin in September. Ticket holders should check with the local venues for information regarding refunds. The shows won’t be rescheduled, as Bennett is retiring from the road.

Bennett’s son and manager Danny Bennett tells Variety, “There won’t be any additional concerts. This was a hard decision for us to make, as he is a capable performer. This is, however, doctors’ orders. His continued health is the most important part of this, and when we heard the doctors — when Tony’s wife, Susan heard them — she said, ‘Absolutely not.’”

“He’ll be doing other things, but not those upcoming shows. It’s not the singing aspect but, rather, the traveling. Look, he gets tired. The decision is being made that doing concerts now is just too much for him,” Danny adds, noting, “We’re not worried about him being able to sing. We are worried, from a physical standpoint… about human nature. Tony’s 95.”

Bennett’s two shows with Gaga — a prequel for the pair’s second duets album, Love for Sale, due out October 1 — had been billed One Last Time: An Evening with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga and announced as the singer’s last NYC public performance.

Bennett’s family revealed back in February that he’d been battling Alzheimer’s disease for the past four years.

Short-staffed hospitals battling COVID surge after opting not to staff up

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Florida’s latest COVID-19 wave is making Bob Gortney, an intensive care nurse in Fort Myers, think twice about his two decades in medicine.

Gortney, who works at Gulf Coast Medical Center, recently came back from vacation and found the hospital full of COVID patients. “I never left the COVID battle from last year,” Gortney told ABC News Fort Myers affiliate WZVN-TV. “We went from having three or four COVID patients that weren’t really sick to now probably 20 to 30 patients [who are] actually on a ventilator that are very, very sick and unvaccinated.”

COVID-19 is surging throughout the United States, with daily case averages reaching more than 110,000, up 25.5% from last week. Hospitalizations, which tend to follow rising cases, particularly in areas with low vaccination rates, are now at their highest point in six months, with more more than 75,000 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized, according to updated data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

“It’s disheartening,” Gortney said. “I know some nurses have walked away from it. Some have just picked up and said, ‘I can’t do this no more.'”

“It is a challenge to find experienced talent due to the national health care worker labor shortage,” said Mary Briggs, a spokesperson for Lee Health, the not-for-profit hospital system that owns Gulf Coast. Despite that challenge, Lee Health has made an effort to staff, Briggs explained, hiring 160 registered nurses in June and July and bringing in travel and contract nurses.

As hospitals across the country, including in Arkansas, Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida and Mississippi, scramble to meet the rising need, Jean Ross, co-president of National Nurses United, the nation’s largest nursing union, pointed to a systemic health care issue that predates COVID-19. Similar to public health funding, hospitals follow a pattern of panic and neglect. They pour money into acute problems, like a COVID surge, then disband those efforts when the situation becomes anything less than a crisis. Preparation and prevention are afterthoughts.

“There was a failure to plan before the pandemic,” Ross said. “There was a failure to listen to us during it. And now that we’re experiencing another surge, once again, there is a failure to plan.”

In Ross’ estimation, hospitals were too frugal about staffing even before the pandemic, in order to maximize profits. COVID exacerbated that. Earlier in the year, when it looked like the virus was receding in the United States, and as hospitals were struggling financially after a year of canceled elective procedures and low patient volume, some hospitals cut costs by furloughing or laying of health workers, or reducing their pay, according to Becker’s Hospital Review. Many other hospitals closed altogether.

“Unfortunately, the national nurse staffing shortage is a difficult challenge for hospitals throughout the U.S. and is at critical levels for certain parts of the country,” said Jennifer McDonnell, director of public relations and communications at MountainView. “We are doing everything in our power to retain and recruit new nurses to our community, from shift bonuses to new grad programs.”

“I don’t necessarily feel like there is a nursing shortage in terms of actual people who are registered nurses,” said Nicole Taylor, a labor and delivery nurse at MountainView Hospital in Las Vegas and chief nurse representative for her hospital at National Nurses United. “There’s a shortage of people who are willing to work in unsafe conditions.”

Taylor is currently on maternity leave, but she said she speaks with nurses at the hospital every couple of days. When COVID surged in the area and the hospital had to start putting two patients in a room instead of one, nurses were expected to pick up the slack. “They can’t possibly hire people in a fast enough manner to accommodate that. That’s really unsafe.”

“I feel pretty confident,” she added, “that a majority of the units are running on bare minimum and just trying to survive.”

During the first wave of the pandemic, traveling nurses descended on New York City and other hotspots, then moved on as the virus did. This time around, much of the country is a hotspot. And adding traveling nurses can be costly.

“Travelers are expensive,” Ross said. “We have our nurses begging for them to get extra help. Some states I’m told that are hardest hit right now are finally looking to other states and asking for help, and asking for travelers.”

But even if hospitals have the budget, Ross added, securing travelers only gets harder as demand skyrockets “country-wide, even worldwide.”

Jessie J shares health update: “I cannot get through a full day without pain”

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Back in December, Jessie J revealed that she was treated for Ménière’s disease, a disorder affecting the inner ear that causes severe dizziness, ringing in the ear and hearing loss. Since then, she’s been dealing with a mystery throat ailment that makes it painful for her to sing. Thursday, she shared an update on her progress.

“Yesterday I tried to sing a song I can usually sing with ease, and I couldn’t. The issue I’m having isn’t my voice but is effecting [sic] my voice,” the 33-year-old British pop star wrote on Instagram, adding that she then “sobbed. For hours.”

“6 months in and I still cannot get through a full day without pain in my mid neck / throat,” she continued. “Some days are so much better than others.”

Jessie goes on to explain that “95% of the time I am good. Positive and strong. Which is what I portray on here mostly. But that 5% will grow if not acknowledged. So yes, sometimes like yesterday. I break. All hope disappears. I feel so lost and so alone in what’s going on.”

“I guess I’m sharing this because people are always saying to me ‘how do you stay so positive all the time’ and truth is I don’t,” she admits. “I definitely don’t unpack and live in how I felt yesterday. But I don’t take pride in always pretending I’m ok. It’s not healthy.”

Notes Jessie, “That old line ‘it’s ok not to be ok’…I wrote it because it’s true and I still believe this platform is to inspire through truth.”

“To anyone else going through a testing time. I feel you. I see you. We will get through this,” she concludes.

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Is Shia LaBeouf eyeing a comeback?

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Months after reportedly taking a break from acting, Shia LaBeouf may be planning a comeback.

Filmmaker Abel Ferrara tells Variety that the Transformers actor has signed on for a role in his next film, which chronicles the younger years of Italian Saint Padre Pio. Ferrara’s frequent collaborator and close friend Willem Dafoe is also reportedly eyeing a role in the film.

“We’re doing a film about Padre Pio, he’s a monk from Puglia,” says Ferrara. “It’s set in Italy right after World War I. He’s now a saint, he had stigmata. He was also in the middle of a very heavy political period in world history. He was very young before he became a saint, so Shia LaBeouf is going to play the monk.”

The news comes eight months after LeBeouf’s former girlfriend, singer FKA Twigs, filed a lawsuit against him accusing the 35-year-old actor of physical abuse during their relationship. Two months later, sources told Variety that LaBeouf made the decision to take a break from acting.

LaBeouf, whose other films include Disturbia and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, recently starred in David Ayer’s action flick The Tax Collector. He was last seen in Pieces of a Woman, opposite Vanessa Kirby.

‘I can’t breathe’: Family speaks out after boy, 12, hospitalized with COVID-19

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(CHILTON COUNTY, Ala.) — An Alabama family’s life was turned upside down when their 12-year-old son, a healthy, strong athlete, caught COVID-19 and landed in the hospital struggling to breathe.

Brody Barnett, a seventh grader from Chilton County, and his family are speaking out to warn the public of the dangers of the delta variant.

His mother, GeriLynn Vowell, told ABC News that her son tested positive on Aug. 6 and suffered extreme symptoms, including coughing and trouble breathing, within a day.

“He’s told his friends, ‘This is the worst that I’ve ever been sick,'” she said.

He said being in the hospital was a “scary experience,” adding, “It ain’t nothing to joke with,” to local ABC Birmingham affiliate WBMA-LD.

Brody, who was not vaccinated, was first exposed at the beginning of last week after going to a friend’s home where someone later tested positive for the virus. After hearing news of that positive result his family bought at-home COVID-19 kits.

“I tested Brody and his test popped up positive immediately. Then we went to an actual testing site and it was the same result,” Vowell said.

Vowell explained that she had tested negative for the COVID-19 test but positive for antibodies.

“My husband nor I have been vaccinated because we were positive for antibodies previously. We had just gotten the original COVID a few months back. So, we had just kind of been waiting to be vaccinated,” she said. She says they’ll get the vaccine when they test negative for antibodies.

Health experts recommend people get vaccinated even if they have been exposed to the virus because the vaccines are known to provide more durable protection, including against the delta variant. A study released Aug. 6 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that people who were unvaccinated were more than twice as likely to be reinfected compared to people who were vaccinated.

The night Brody tested positive he got a runny nose and started coughing. The next day it progressed to the point that he couldn’t breathe and felt pain in his ribcage.

“He was like, ‘I cannot breathe, I cannot take a breath,'” she said. “He couldn’t raise his arms over his head and take a breath.”

Days later she took him to Children’s of Alabama hospital in Birmingham, where he spent one night. A doctor told them Brody had COVID pneumonia.

When COVID-19 pneumonia occurs it can be severe and the lungs are most affected. Airsacs in the lunges fill with fluid and limit their ability to take in oxygen, resulting in shortness of breath and cough, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

“It was scary. The doctors said there’s nothing we can do other than Tylenol or Motrin to treat symptoms,” Vowell said, noting the doctor said his symptoms were consistent with the delta variant.

He was treated in the COVID wing where there “were probably a dozen kids or more” being treated, she recalled.

Today, Brody is at home recuperating and is slowly recovering.

“Our nights are still pretty rough. I feel like he’s feeling a little better now, we’re on Day 7. As far as walking outside, he gets winded very easily, his breathing isn’t where it should be and he still has lots of big coughing spells,” Vowell said.

Brody’s struggle with the virus has left the family shaken.

“It has scared him a lot. Our COVID units in our area had shut down pretty much and we didn’t hear about it this summer, we didn’t worry about the virus as much but now I think it’s definitely scared him to the point that he feels he is definitely more leery of it,” his mother said.

Brody and his family are speaking up to warn people that kids too can suffer greatly from the virus.

“Kids do get sick and [the virus] is real. We’re not out to condemn or condone or any of the political side of it,” Vowell said. “I just want to make other mommas and parents aware that it is real for kids and kids do get sick and it’s a scary thing when they do.”

COVID-19 infections among children has become a growing concern in the U.S.

Nearly 94,000 children’s virus cases were recorded for the week ending Aug. 5, which accounted for roughly 15% of all new cases reported across the nation, according to data from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association. It’s a major jump from the week prior’s when 39,000 new child cases were reported.

As of Thursday there are 22 children at the Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham hospitalized with COVID-19.

How long will your COVID-19 vaccine last? And will you need a booster?

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are expected to greenlight booster shots for immune-compromised individuals this week, after mounting evidence reveals they may not reach full protection with their original vaccinations.

But this expanded authorization only will apply to this very narrow group. For the rest of Americans, currently available data suggests all three authorized vaccines are offering good protection at least six months after initial vaccination — likely even longer.

“We believe sooner or later you will need a booster for durability of protection,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, speaking at Thursday’s White House press briefing. “We do not believe that others, elderly or non-elderly, who are not immunocompromised, need a vaccine [booster] right at this moment.”

“We are evaluating this on a day-by-day, week-by-week, month-by-month basis,” Fauci added. “So, if the data shows us that, in fact, we do need to do that, we’ll be very ready to do it and do it expeditiously.”

Vaccine experts have said protection from current COVID-19 vaccines is expected to wane slightly over time. Meanwhile, the delta variant is expected to chip away slightly at overall vaccine effectiveness. Executives from both Moderna and Pfizer have said booster doses eventually will be needed.

But so far, vaccines are still holding up well, experts said. Some studies have indicated a slight dip in efficacy, but mostly when it comes to protection from symptomatic and mild illness. Data thus far indicates that vaccines are still extremely effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths.

Moderna and Pfizer both reported positive data from their ongoing phase 3 trials, which have continued to monitor volunteers at least six months after their initial shots. Moderna has said its vaccine remains more 93% effective against symptomatic illness after six months, while Pfizer reported a dip in efficacy to 84%, though both studies were conducted with slightly different criteria and prior to the emergence of the delta variant.

Although an independent study from the Mayo Clinic hinted that Pfizer immunity might wane faster than Moderna immunity, experts said it’s likely too soon to say that for sure.

Johnson & Johnson, meanwhile, has yet to report six-month data for its single-shot vaccine. The company, however, has released promising laboratory data showing a strong immune system response up to eight months later. And a real-world study from South Africa showed good protection against delta.

That said, some Americans aren’t waiting for a formal recommendation to get an additional shot. According to an internal CDC briefing reported by ABC News, approximately 1.1 million already have taken booster shots.

Many doctors have cautioned against this. Booster doses are still being studied formally, and there could be still-unknown risks associated with getting them. Researchers are still evaluating side effects, proper dosages and the right time to get one.

“The main thing I really want to stress to everyone,” said Dr. Simone Wildes, an infectious disease specialist at South Shore Health and an ABC News contributor, “is that, right now, we are not recommending booster shots. However, that could change.”

Other doctors and public health specialists also said they’re also not rushing to recommend boosters for the general public. Not only are current vaccines proving to be overwhelmingly effective, but doctors are also still collecting data on the potential impacts of an additional shot. And vaccine producers are still researching whether lower dosages will suffice as potential boosters.

“Everyone wants to know — when is the timeline?” Wildes said.

Experts still aren’t sure.

“We don’t know how long immunity lasts,” said John Brownstein, chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor. “We don’t know what ‘waning’ means. We will clearly see that in the fall as we see a surge, and we’ll understand what delta or any future variant means for cases in the population.”

Scoreboard roundup — 8/12/21

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Thursday’s sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Oakland 17, Cleveland 0
Seattle 3, Texas 1
Detroit 6, Baltimore 4
Tampa Bay 8, Boston 1
Chi White Sox 9, NY Yankees 8
LA Angels 6, Toronto 3

NATIONAL LEAGUE
NY Mets 4, Washington 1
NY Mets 5, Washington 4
St. Louis 7, Pittsburgh 6
Philadelphia 2,LA Dodgers 1
Milwaukee 17, Chi Cubs 4
Cincinnati 12, Atlanta 3
San Francisco 7, Colorado 0
Arizona 12, San Diego 3

WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Seattle 79, Connecticut 57

Dan + Shay dive into ‘Good Things,’ quite literally

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

When Dan + Shay‘s 2018 album came out, Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney kept it simple: the cover’s nothing more than their name on a blank background.

Fast forward to Good Things, their new record out today. The pair’s gone all out, heading to California’s Joshua Tree for the photo shoot — even jumping in the water for what turned out to be the cover art.

“There was a swimming pool there,” Dan explains, “and it was 110 degrees out in the desert. We’re like, ‘Man, it would feel pretty good to go in that pool. Maybe we could get a picture while we’re in there. It might be the thing.'”

“You think about all these iconic album covers,” he reflects, “and they’re always just some random spur-of-the-moment, unplanned thing.”

“We dipped our toes in first,” he continues, “It was like, ‘What if we, like, put our jeans in?’ And then we just kept going in further. The photographer just jumped in, in his clothes… and he’s underwater shooting these photos.”

Sure enough, out of 11,000 shots, a pool photo turned out to be the one.

“It was just that magic moment,” Dan says. “We weren’t staged… we were just… laughing and having a good time.”

“We’re like, ‘How’s it look? Does it look sick? Is it anything?'” he recalls. “[The photographer] said ‘Honestly, man, I can’t see any of these photos. I’m underwater.'”

“It wasn’t until we got back to Nashville that we were able to see those,” Dan reveals. “And there was something magical about that unplanned moment… We were at peace… at ease. And I feel like there’s kinda that thread throughout the album.”

Good Things features the hits “10,000 Hours,” “I Should Probably Go to Bed,” and “Glad You Exist,” plus nine new tracks.

Ringo Starr releasing new EP, ‘Change the World,’ in September; listen to lead track now

August 13, 2021 by WDNY Radio

After releasing the five-song Zoom In EP this past March, Ringo Starr has unveiled plans to issue a new four-track EP called Change the World on September 24 on CD, cassette and digital formats.

In addition, a 10-inch vinyl version will follow on November 19.

Starr first announced details about Change the World during a livestream event Thursday at TalkShop.Live that featured an interview with the former Beatles drummer while giving fans the chance to pre-order the EP’s various versions.

Coinciding with the announcement, Ringo has released the EP’s lead track, “Let’s Change the World,” digitally. The uplifting pop-rock song was co-written by Toto‘s Joseph Williams and Steve Lukather, the latter of whom also is a longtime member of Ringo’s All Starr Band.

The second track is a reggae-flavored tune titled “Just That Way,” which Ringo co-wrote with his longtime engineer Bruce Sugar, and features veteran reggae guitarist Tony Chin.

Track three is the country-influenced “Coming Undone,” which was penned by hit-making songwriter/producer Linda Perry. Perry also plays on the tune, as does acclaimed New Orleans musician Trombone Shorty.

Closing out Change the World is Ringo’s homage to the early rock ‘n’ roll that served as such a big inspiration to him, a cover of Billy Haley & His Comets‘ classic “Rock Around the Clock.” Eagles guitarist — and Starr’s brother-in-law — Joe Walsh lends his talents to the track.

Like Zoom In, Ringo recorded Change the World at his home studio, Roccabella West.

“I’ve been saying I only want to release EPs at this point and this is the next one,” notes Ringo. “What a blessing it’s been during this year to have a studio here at home and be able to collaborate with so many great musicians.”

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