A SPECIAL REPORT: BANKING

STICKUPS DOWN: Fewer banks are being robbed in Orange County this year. . . . From Jan. 1 to July 20, the FBI reports, bandits have struck 176 times, down 12% from the same period last year. . . . FBI agents are pleased, naturally, though a bit mystified. “I was surprised it was down,” said spokesman Gary Morley in the FBI’s Santa Ana office. “It just seems busier.”