Your morning news roundup for Wednesday January 17th, 2007:

Residents of the Beaches have warmed up to the idea of inviting homeless to seek shelter in a local church as part of the "Out of the Cold" program. St. Aidan's church will open its doors on Monday night.

"Squeegee-kids" have lost in their attempt to lift the ban on asking for money for washing car windshields. Judges in the case have said that the crackdown on road panhandling violates the Charter but cites road safety as a reason to maintain the ban.

Is gambling and smoking as important to smokers as coffee and a smoke or smoking after a big meal is? Critics are calling smoking shelters in casinos hypocritical.

Students at Canada's largest university are pressuring University of Toronto to dump its investments in Imperial tobacco. The campaign sees no place for funding from cancer sticks in higher education.

Where does responsibility lie for shovelling of the sidewalks after snow falls on your property? CityTV reminds us of the laws (including time limits, fines, and exceptions to the rules).

Toronto Police are calling 2006 the "Year of Domestic Violence" after 60% of their emergency calls were related to the problem. 15 homicides were domestic violence-related, up from 8 in 2005.

(photo: theGentries Flickr pooler capitolOne)