Climate activists are starting the new year with a redoubled effort to generate action, with one local group set to hold a daylong event aimed at doing just that.

It was tide, not bombs, that did in Fort Tyler.     

Fort Tyler, a pile of rubble and concrete walls that had been a landmark for boaters and favorite fishing spot, has nearly been consumed by the sea after standing for 120 years on a shrinking island north of Gardiner’s Island.     

Sharone Einhorn and Honey Wolters, the owners of Ruby Beets home furnishings store, which has been a Sag Harbor fixture for 14 years, recently announced they will be closing the shop later this month, not because of soaring rents, or sagging sales, but because they didn’t want to overstay their welcome.     

On the heels of the controversial construction of electronic billboards on Sunrise Highway last summer, the Shinnecock Council of Trustees is in the early stages of planning a gas station and a medical marijuana dispensary, both part of a multifaceted approach to broaden the tribe’s income to support much-needed programs for its 1,600 members, according to Bryan Polite, the council’s chairman.     

When an out-of-town animal rescue group showed up to remove domestic ducks from the Nature Trail in East Hampton a few days before Christmas, local wildlife advocates and stewards of the trail reacted with outrage, accusing the group of “terrorizing” the resident waterfowl.     

When an out-of-town animal rescue group showed up to remove domestic ducks from the Nature Trail in East Hampton a few days before Christmas, local wildlife advocates and stewards of the trail reacted with outrage, accusing the group of “terrorizing” the resident waterfowl.     

An East Hampton Village law prohibiting professional landscapers from using gas-powered leaf blowers from June 1 to Labor Day, and another that requires them to obtain licenses annually, took effect Thursday, the first day of the new year.     

Up for a challenge . . . for a good cause?

The bravest swimmers on the South Fork can answer the polar plunge call to raise money for charity by taking a winter dip on New Year's Day in Montauk, East Hampton, or Wainscott.

The first one of the day is on the beach at Gurney's Montauk Resort at 10:30 a.m. Donations collected during the Gurney's polar plunge will benefit the Retreat, a domestic violence shelter program based in East Hampton.

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, and other state and local officials attended the East Hampton Village Board meeting on Friday to pay tribute to Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr., who will be resigning on Tuesday, more than six months before his term is up. 

Fifty-four athletes journeyed 18 miles from Montauk to Block Island on stand-up paddleboards and in kayaks last summer as a fund-raiser that raised about $180,000 for Paddlers for Humanity.

You may have seen Stuart Weiss riding his bicycle around town. At 85 years young, he favors orange polka-dot suspenders — a tan fedora when he’s on foot. “I’ve gone over 700 miles this year,” said Mr. Weiss earlier this month. “It’s good for me mentally and physically.” 

After a search, an architectural design firm has been selected for Stony Brook Southampton Hospital’s new location, 15 acres on the Southampton campus of Stony Brook University, on Tuckahoe Road in Shinnecock Hills. The $305 million project is targeted for completion by 2025.