Photo Eliza Ridgeway/Town Crier

Kendra Good and her father, David, journey from Sunnyvale for Country Gourmet’s biscuits with gravy and strawberry shortcake.

Local breakfast lovers are eating final, fond orders of biscuits, omelets and homestyle potatoes at Country Gourmet this week. The 30-year-old Mountain View restaurant is closing doors as owner Herman Shaw retires from the business.

Those who live for a weekend snack of French toast topped with grilled bananas, almonds and caramel sauce – or the other specialties at the independent diner – will have to eat their fill by Sunday. The family-run restaurant and the land on which it sits have been sold to a new owner.

Weighing costs and functionality, the Mountain View City Council last week approved less-expensive alternative plans for Permanente Creek Trail pedestrian crossings at Amphitheatre Parkway and Charleston Road.

Councilmembers opted to retain the current 7.5-foot height of a trail undercrossing at Amphitheatre Parkway. Staff had recommended 9 feet, but councilmembers suggested analysis of the additional cost to increase the clearance.

Senior Center recruits volunteers

The Mountain View Senior Center Technology Lab seeks volunteers to work once a month or more this summer.

Volunteers will share their knowledge, develop new skills and connect with senior citizens. Specific tasks will include answering computer questions and teaching short lesson plans on computer skills 4-6 p.m. Wednesdays beginning in June.

Photo Courtesy Of City Of Mountain View

The city of Mountain View plans to purchase a 1.22-acre lot on Rengstorff Avenue for $3 million, with proposed uses including a park, a garden or senior or low-income housing.

Members of the Mountain View City Council approved the purchase of the 1.22-acre site at 771 N. Rengstorff Ave. for $3 million at their May 7 meeting.

According to a staff report, the property is located on the east side of Rengstorff Avenue, approximately 150 feet south of Old Middlefield Way. It includes a 960-square-foot house, built in 1953, evaluated as in “fair condition.”

Photo Courtesy Of Kiwanis Club Of Mountain View

Children from military families stationed at Moffett Field gleefully participate in Child Spree May 4, a Kiwanis Club of Mountain View-sponsored shopping spree at Kohl’s.

Members of the Kiwanis Club of Mountain View joined with Kohl’s department store May 4 to sponsor Child Spree, a clothes-shopping spree for 30 local children whose parents serve in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Child Spree, the latest effort in the Kiwanis Club’s outreach to military families based at Moffett Field, enabled the children, many with a parent stationed overseas, to select their own clothing.

Photo Rendering Courtesy Of Mountain View Cohousing Community

A rendering of the Mountain View Cohousing Community’s plans for a 19-unit condominium complex, above, highlights the addition of fruit and shade trees.

Construction is under way on the Mountain View Cohousing Community’s 19-unit condominium project at 445 Calderon Ave.

Few of the project’s future residents are more excited about it than Susan Burwen, founding member of the cohousing group.

Bring your own bag

Local residents who plan to shop at the new Safeway on San Antonio Road or any other market in Mountain View should prepare to bring reusable bags – the city’s plastic bag ban is now in effect.

In a symbolic move, the Mountain View City Council approved the ban effective Earth Day, April 22.

Photo Charles So/Special To The Town Crier

Mohammed Saatchi, left, owner of M&ampS Watch Gallery, consults with associate Masoud Danandeh, a senior technician at the new gallery in the Grant Road Shopping Center.

For more than three decades, Mohammed Saatchi has offered watch repair services out of a small outlet at the entrance to what is now Rite Aid at the Grant Road Shopping Center in Mountain View.

Specializing in watch repair, battery replacement and sales of watches and watchbands, Saatchi’s new store is clear indication that business is good – and expanding.

Photo Courtesy Of Stephen Friedman Los Altos resident Stephen Friedman snapped this photo of a newly opened Chick-fil-A drive-through in San Jose, packed with cars. He thinks one in Mountain View would draw similar crowds.

Forget Chick-fil-A’s politics. Mountain View and Los Altos residents don’t want the traffic hassles.

Residents of Mountain View’s Gemello and Los Altos’ Eastender neighborhoods were scheduled to share their concerns with the Mountain View City Council Tuesday, after the Town Crier’s press deadline. A group of residents registered their support for two appeals filed against the zoning administrator’s decision to approve a conditional-use permit for a Chick-fil-A drive-through.

Avenidas hosts series for family caregivers

Avenidas Rose Kleiner Center has scheduled a “‘How-To’ Series for Family Caregivers” at the center, 270 Escuela Ave., Mountain View.

A session on Parkinson’s disease is slated 6:30-8 p.m. Nov. 1 and a session on palliative care 6:30-8 p.m. Dec. 4.

Photo Photo By Margaret Abe/Strictly Candids

The Jun Daiko (taiko drums) entertain guests at the Mountain View Buddhist Temple’s 50th anniversary event.

Nearly 500 people gathered to celebrate the Mountain View Buddhist Temple’s 50th anniversary Sept. 29.

With traditional court music playing, children dressed in pink and green robes led the formal processional with the Rev. Dean Koyama and eight fellow ministers from other temples. Others followed, carrying candles, flowers, fruits and rice offerings for the special Buddhist ceremonial service.

The newly formed North Santa Clara County Gang Task Force engaged in its inaugural operation Oct. 12, conducting a series of probation and parole searches in Mountain View and Sunnyvale.

The task force’s mission is to enable officers from participating agencies to proactively and jointly address gang violence in northern Santa Clara County.

Pedestrian safety is a serious matter. The California Drivers Handbook says the following about pedestrians and crosswalks.

• In California, pedestrian deaths occur in approximately 19 percent of all traffic fatalities. Drive cautiously when pedestrians are near, because they may suddenly cross your path.

A Sept. 15 automobile collision that took the life of a pedestrian marked the third traffic fatality this year on California Street and Shoreline Boulevard in Mountain View.

The deaths prompted a meeting with residents in nearby neighborhoods sharing their concerns with police and public works officials. The meeting was scheduled Monday, after the Town Crier’s press deadline.

Photo Photos By Ellie Van Houtte/Town Crier

The Village at San Antonio Center, left and below, takes shape as a mixed-use development combining retail, housing and office space. The Mountain View project recently received recognition for its design.

The Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal 2012 Structures Awards recognized The Village at San Antonio Center as Best Mixed-Use Project of the Year. The project replaces the 1950s-era shopping mall at the corner of El Camino Real and San Antonio Road in Mountain View.

The $250 million mixed-use project, which Merlone Geier Partners broke ground on in September 2011, is expected to transform and refresh a large part of the aging retail center formerly home to Sears. The project is spearheading further redevelopment in the rest of the 56-acre retail center, also undergoing a major renovation.