Regional Business Digest

REGION
First Niles has dividend
NILES -- First Niles Financial, the parent company of Home Federal and Savings and Loan Association of Niles, announced a cash dividend of 16 cents per share for the fourth quarter of 2006, payable Dec. 22 to shareholders of record on Dec. 8.
Sky declares dividend
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- Sky Financial Group has declared a fourth-quarter cash dividend of 25 cents per share on its common stock, payable Jan. 2, 2007, to shareholders of record as of Dec. 15, 2006. The dividend represents a 2 cent, or 8.7 percent, increase over the company's third-quarter cash dividend.
Aqua Ohio's new tank
MENTOR -- Aqua Ohio has completed a 1 million storage tank, part of a 6 million capital program slated for Lake County this year. Painting of the 400,000 gallon water storage tank in Concord Township, near the Lake Erie College George M. Humphrey Equestrian Center, is done, and it is in service, company officials said. The project will provide increased capacity to meet peak demands and enhanced fire protection for some 1,000 township residents and Kirtland Hills.
Jobless rate drops
COLUMBUS -- Ohio's unemployment rate was 5.1 percent in October, down from 5.3 percent in September, according to data released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Ohio's nonfarm wage and salary employment remained relatively unchanged over the month, decreasing 200 from 5,456,000 in September. Gains in employment in service-providing industries were offset by losses in construction, said ODJFS Director Barbara Riley.
The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in October was 306,000, down from 316,000 in September. The number of unemployed has decreased by 38,000 in the past 12 months from 344,000. The October unemployment rate for Ohio was down from 5.8 percent in October 2005, Riley said.
NATION
15M awarded in suit
TULSA, Okla. -- The parents of a teenager who died in the crash of a 1995 Ford Explorer Sport have won a 15 million verdict in their federal lawsuit against the automaker. A spokeswoman for Ford said Tuesday the company will appeal the verdict.
A federal jury returned the verdict against Ford Motor Company on Monday in a product-liability lawsuit that alleged the vehicle's roof was not strong enough. Tyler Moody, 18, was killed Jan. 7, 2003, when he lost control of the sport utility vehicle while he was passing another vehicle in a no passing zone on a curve, according to a Nov. 14 order by U.S. Chief District Judge Claire Eagan. The SUV left the road and rolled at least 11/2 times, coming to rest on its roof.
From Vindicator and wire reports