DBSI, an Idaho real estate firm with 250 properties worth $2 billion faces a class-action suit. Some of its properties and investors are in Indianapolis.

CEOs with Simon Property, Duke Realty Corp. and Interactive Intelligence Inc. report that their companies are taking an uncharacteristically cautious approach to acquisitions and investments, given the faltering economy.

The big debt payments on the $1.1 billion midfield terminal at Indianapolis International Airport start coming due in January--just as a recession hits and the battered airline industry cuts capacity. Despite the likely prospect of fewer passengers than projected in the next year or two, airport managers say they don't anticipate problems shouldering the roughly $40 million a year in debt burden over the next 30 years for the new facility.

Area not-for-profits are beginning to feel the sting of the year-old credit crunch, which has escalated into a full-blown financial crisis that's battered investors and likely pushed the nation into recession.

The downturn in the housing market isn't tough just on people trying to sell their homes. It's also tough on the people who want to help those people sell their homes--real estate agents. Locally, their ranks have thinned as more and more leave the field to search for better prospects.

Local companies that rely on credit have seen their borrowing power shrink and in some cases disappear as a deep freeze in the nation's credit markets drives fears of a broad economic slowdown. A handful of businesses, including a Greenwood security firm and an Indianapolis contractor, already have shut down after credit dried up, and others are on the ropes as troubled banks seek to limit their loan exposure.

Stock markets are falling, jobs are disappearing, and the outlook for the economy seems grim. Banks, real estate developers, retailers and manufacturers are taking the worst hits, but all types of businesses in central Indiana are hurting. From health care to technology, education to philanthropy, every industry is trying to take the setbacks in stride.