DISNEYLAND has been closed for months due to the coronavirus, but brighter days are coming (Flickr/Adam Smith).

Orange County’s powerhouse of tourism, the Disney Resort, may be opening as early as July17.

In an announcement made Wednesday, Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure will open their gates for the first time since they closed in mid-March due to the coronavirus –if they get approval from health officials.

“We are pleased to announce our proposed plans to begin a phased opening of the Disneyland Resort,” the Disney Corporation announced in a press release.  Attendance will be limited and admission will be processed through a reservation system.

The reopened parks will not have parades or nighttime “spectaculars,” and additional safety measures will be taken. “Guests” may be required to wear a facial covering, but no final decision has been made.

A return of the Disney parks would be a major boon to tourism in Anaheim and Garden Grove where a large chunk of municipal revenue comes from transient occupancy tax paid by customers at motels and hotels, as well as sales tax paid at restaurants and stores that cater to the tourist trade.

Stars and Bars banned at NASCAR events

NASCAR, the stock car racing organization that’s long been identified with the American South – including the display of the Confederate battle flag – is making an historic change.

The display of the banner, carried by the army of Southern states during the American Civil War of 1861-65, will be banned from all NASCAR races and events, it was announced on Wednesday.

Details on how the organization would handle the T-shirts and bumper stickers with the forbidden banner were not revealed.

Coronavirus cases near 2 million here

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States neared two million in Wednesday’s count by Johns Hopkins University. Of the worldwide total of 7,356,337 cases, 1,999,392 are in the U.S. The two million mark should be reached by Thursday. Global deaths are reported at 416,040. Of that number, 112,878 are in the U.S.

A divided stock market once again

Depressed a bit perhaps by the news that the U.S. is in recession, two of the three major stock indexes retreated on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Average fell by 282.21 points to 26,989.99. The S&P 500 also took a loss, this one of 17.04 points to 3,190.14. Only tech-heavy Nasdaq had a good day, rising 66.59 points to 10,020.35.

Hot enough for you? Hang in there

The weather in West Orange County today (Thursday) was desert-like but temperatures will start dropping by Thursday. Highs were in the mid-90s on Wednesday, but should be down to 83 tomorrow, sliding down to 76 by Friday and 77 by Saturday. Evenings will be around 60. As usual, highs will be about 10 degrees cooler by the beach.

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