Bow Mar, an affluent Denver suburb, is moving toward a controversial plan to gate its public streets. Supporters say the measure is needed to protect children from reckless drivers, while neighboring communities have condemned it as an exclusionary move.

The picturesque town, located about 12 miles south of Denver and known for its multimillion-dollar homes, has roughly 830 residents. Locals say drivers from surrounding cities routinely speed through Bow Mar to bypass busier main roads.

‘We just want to keep our kids safe,’ Dawn Fable, who has lived in Bow Mar for 10 years, told The New York Times. ‘They’re not able to play outside. Someone is going to die.’

Town officials had previously suggested placing gates at two entrances to Bow Mar and shutting down a third access point entirely.

On Monday, Bow Mar’s board of trustees unanimously approved moving ahead with an engineering firm to develop the project. The first gate could be in place by Thanksgiving, according to CBS Colorado.

The proposal has drawn sharp criticism. On 9News, local anchor Kyle Clark mocked the plan, saying the ‘fancy little town in the metro area doesn’t want us peasants driving through anymore.’

Littleton Mayor Kyle Schlachter said Bow Mar had rejected offers to add speed bumps or increase traffic enforcement, apparently choosing gated entrances instead.

‘It’s hurtful when your neighbor says, “You’re not welcome in our community,”‘ Schlachter told The Times.

Schlachter also called the plan inequitable, noting that Bow Mar residents rely on roads in neighboring communities when traveling beyond their small suburb.

‘They want to be able to use our roads, but they don’t want us to use their roads,’ Schlachter told the outlet. ‘Do we need to put up gates of our own?’

Despite the backlash, support for making Bow Mar a gated town intensified again this week after a vehicle was found underwater in Bowles Lake.

A South Metro Fire Rescue dive team searched the vehicle but found no one inside. The car was located near the 5200 block of Lakeshore Drive.

The Columbine Valley Police Department was investigating who owned the vehicle.

Liz Manning, a Bow Mar resident and town trustee, said the incident underscored the dangers she has been warning about.

‘The concerns I have is that, at some point, this is going to involve a pedestrian and not just the lake,’ Manning told CBS Colorado last Wednesday.

‘We’re trying to avoid a fatality,’ she added.

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A traffic study commissioned by Bow Mar found that approximately 2,000 vehicles entered the town on an average day last year. Most of those drivers are not believed to live there.

From the beginning of 2023 through this summer, police issued 1,260 traffic citations. Speeding accounted for about half of the violations.

Manning said the town had already tried multiple measures to address the driving concerns to no avail.

‘We have slowed our speed limit to 20 miles an hour,’ Manning said. ‘We have installed a multitude of speed bumps. We’ve narrowed our roads. We’ve increased enforcement, and we’re still having these issues.’

Authorities previously proposed installing gates at Sheridan Boulevard and Prospect Drive, as well as closing West Tufts Avenue.

Bow Mar residents would be given RFID tags for their vehicles to go through the gates.

For now, Bow Mar appears to only be pushing ahead with construction at the Sheridan entrance.

Town leaders said they would wait to see the impact of the first project before erecting any other gates.

Denver City Councilman Kevin Flynn has urged Bow Mar to work with its neighbors as opposed to keeping them out.

‘They haven’t tried cooperating with Denver and Littleton,’ Flynn told CBS Colorado. ‘That’s what they haven’t tried.’

Flynn accused Bow Mar officials of wanting to ‘solve their traffic hazards on the backs of my residents by giving them the traffic hazards.’

‘How many of those crashes are Bow Mar residents?’ he said. ‘How do we know that the guy who crashed into the lake isn’t a Bow Mar resident?’

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has said the city would work with Bow Mar to ‘find a solution that works for everyone.’

‘Public roads belong to the public,’ Johnston’s office told Denver7 last month.

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Bow Mar board of trustees and mayor for comment.

My patient Graham was 16 when he began an apprenticeship as a bricklayer. From around that time onwards, he also lived with persistent back pain.

Initially, no one considered it unusual. He spent his working days lifting heavy materials and bending over walls, so an aching back seemed an inevitable consequence. When he eventually visited his GP, he was advised to keep active. He followed that advice, but his symptoms continued to deteriorate.

By the time he came to see me at 32, he was utterly worn down. As he explained the pattern of his pain, it became clear that this was not simply the result of years of manual labour or ordinary wear and tear.

Common back pain, sometimes called mechanical back pain, usually follows a particular movement, injury or long day. It tends to worsen with activity and improve when the person rests.

Graham’s symptoms were very different. The pain had developed gradually, without any specific injury. He described a deep ache across his lower back that became particularly severe at night, often waking him. To settle it, he would get out of bed and walk around before trying to sleep again.

Mornings were especially difficult. He told me: ‘I move like my granddad.’ Yet after an hour, a shower and some food, the stiffness began to ease.

Rest made the pain worse, while exercise brought relief. Graham had been pushing himself to train more and more simply to keep his symptoms under control.

The pattern immediately suggested inflammatory back pain caused by axial spondyloarthritis. Further tests confirmed the diagnosis.

Axial spondyloarthritis is an inflammatory form of arthritis that primarily affects the spine. In Graham’s case, it was highly likely that the condition had been present for many years.

His experience is far from unique. I have treated many men under 40 with a similar history: years of pain followed by years of being reassured that they should stretch, lose weight or invest in a more supportive chair.

Around 220,000 people in Britain are thought to have axial spondyloarthritis, but only 60,000 have received a diagnosis, according to Arthritis UK. Approximately 2,000 adults are diagnosed each year. The condition usually begins during the late teens or twenties, almost always before the age of 45, and is more common in men.

Despite this, the National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society says the average diagnostic delay in the UK is eight and a half years.

Why is axial spondyloarthritis so frequently overlooked? One reason is that back pain is extremely common, and most cases are mechanical. When a fit young man reports a painful back, doctors may understandably first suspect a sports injury, gym-related strain or the physical demands of a manual job.

Imaging does not always provide an immediate answer. During the early stages of axial spondyloarthritis, X-rays may appear entirely normal because changes to the bones can take years to become visible.

MRI scans of the lower back may also fail to cover the sacroiliac joints, which sit on either side of the base of the spine and are often where inflammation starts. In addition, blood tests that measure inflammation may show normal results.

Diagnosis must also be made by a rheumatologist, a specialist in inflammatory conditions affecting the joints and musculoskeletal system.

If a GP does not recognise the warning signs of inflammatory back pain, they may not refer the patient to a rheumatologist. Without that specialist assessment, the underlying condition can remain undiagnosed for years.

This delay can ultimately worsen the health of patients like Graham.

Over the years, as the immune system wrongly attacks the spine, this can cause vertebrae to fuse – a debilitating complication called ankylosing spondylitis.

In the most advanced cases the spine becomes a rigid column known as bamboo spine, making simple movements like bending down all but impossible.

Axial spondyloarthritis doesn’t just affect the back and hips either. The inflammation can also strike the heels, knees and ribs, and even the eye.

Many patients also experience severe fatigue.

The toll of axial spondyloarthritis on the lives of young men can be huge. Many patients are in so much pain that they are unable to work. This could have easily been Graham had he not been diagnosed.

That’s because, while there is no cure for the condition, there are a number of effective treatments.

The first step is anti-inflammatory painkillers such as ibuprofen or naproxen, taken regularly at full dose, which help many patients enormously.

For those who don’t improve, biologic drugs can be life-changing. These are injections designed to combat inflammation in the body.

The usual first choice on the NHS is called adalimumab, which is self-injected every two weeks. The drug is not without its risks. Adalimumab dampens the immune system, meaning patients are more at-risk of infectious diseases.

For some, the initial injections have no effect – meaning they will have to try other biologics. However, many patients feel their pain and stiffness lift within weeks.

But no drug replaces movement. Regular exercise is the most powerful tool patients have for staying supple. 

Daily stretching, swimming, Pilates and strength work all help, and physiotherapists can design programmes for spinal mobility and posture. If you smoke, stop: smokers tend to have more severe disease.

In many cases, back pain is down to something ordinary like carrying heavy boxes or sleeping in an uncomfortable position.

But if yours began before 45, came on gradually, is worst at night and first thing, and eases with exercise rather than rest, see your GP and ask whether a referral to a rheumatologist might be necessary.

The BBC is set to shut three of its major linear broadcast services and eliminate more than 100 jobs under a new round of cost-cutting measures.

The corporation announced on Tuesday afternoon that BBC Three, BBC Scotland and Radio 4 Extra will close in spring 2027.

About 100 BBC News employees are expected to lose their jobs as the corporation faces pressure to deliver approximately £500 million in savings by 2028. Further positions will also be affected by the broadcast closures, including 10 roles in Scotland.

In a statement, the BBC described the move as a “tough decision” driven by the “sustained financial pressures facing the organisation”.

Staff were informed of the plans on Tuesday morning, the corporation said.

BBC Director-General Mark Brittin said: “We need to make every pound work harder for audiences as we respond to the immediate cost pressures and reinvent the BBC for a changing world. We all know that means tough choices.

“Much of the great content they currently carry will still be found where audiences already enjoy it on iPlayer and Sounds. While this follows media speculation, I recognise the confirmation of this news will be hard for audiences and colleagues.”

BBC Scotland will continue to be available on iPlayer, but it will no longer operate as a traditional television broadcast channel. Scottish audiences will still be able to watch content on BBC One and BBC Two.

BBC Three’s programming, aimed primarily at younger viewers, will remain available through BBC iPlayer and other platforms, including YouTube.

This is not the first time BBC Three has been removed from linear television. The channel returned as a full-time TV service in January 2022, six years after moving online.

Radio 4 Extra programmes will continue on BBC Sounds, while The Daily Service will be offered through BBC Sounds and local radio.

The BBC News employees facing redundancy were told about the plans in an email from Rachel Jupp, the newly appointed director of BBC News.

She wrote: “We’re now announcing further saving proposals, with a total value of around £5.5 million which represents the net closure of just over 100 roles.

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“I know this will be very difficult news for those affected. We will continue to work closely with colleagues and trade unions throughout the consultation process and will do everything we can to minimise the need for compulsory redundancies.

“Colleagues affected by today’s proposals have already been informed.”

Ms Jupp said she would review whether additional savings were needed “over the next few weeks”, although plans are understood to be in place to deliver further reductions next year.

The latest cost-cutting announcement comes just over a week after the BBC confirmed the cancellation of several Radio 4 programmes.

You and Yours, Thinking Allowed, Free Thinking and The Artificial Human are among the shows being axed in a move the corporation said would produce “significant savings”. Open Country, a long-running programme focused on rural affairs, has also been cancelled.

BBC 5 Live will too see a reduction in its commissioning budget on schedule and sports podcasts from 2027.

Jonathan Wall, director of BBC Sounds, said when the move was announced on October 8: ‘We are reshaping BBC speech audio to build a strong future for trusted journalism, distinctive storytelling and programmes that bring people together.  

‘By commissioning fewer programmes overall, we can focus our investment and make our best shows work across broadcast, on demand and different formats.

‘That means accelerating growth on our own digital platforms and reaching more people beyond the BBC, while maintaining the strength of Radio 4 and 5 Live, the country’s two biggest speech radio stations.

‘These are difficult decisions, and they are not based on cost alone. We need to make significant savings while investing for the future. I am extremely grateful to the teams behind the programmes affected, and we will support colleagues and work closely with unions throughout consultation.’

Previous reports suggest the BBC planned to cut some 2,000 jobs on its quest to save £500million over the next three years. 

Speaking in September, Matt Brittin – who has fronted the broadcaster since May – said he ‘could not guarantee any programme will exist forever’.

The former Google executive said during an appearance on Sunday with Laura Kuessenberg: ‘If you see changes that we make in the future as we work out how best to deal with this challenge, by the way hopefully with a new charter in 18 months’ time, we will be in a position where we can make longer term decisions about funding.

‘The tight financial situation means that we are having to look at some of those decisions a bit sooner than we might like but, if most of an audience is getting things on demand, we have to look at the cost and the value of all of those different services.’

A bitter friendship breakdown between acclaimed sushi chef Michiaki Miyazaki and prominent Sydney restaurateur Joel Best has unfolded before the Fair Work Commission (FWC), with evidence centring on alleged workplace drinking and weeks of up to 70 hours.

Mr Miyazaki brought his former employer, Besuto, before the FWC after being dismissed by Mr Best, the venue’s owner and his friend of two decades.

Besuto is a traditional Japanese restaurant hidden inside Sydney’s Salesforce Tower. Its bespoke set menus begin at $280 per person, while the venue also offers an extensive whisky selection.

The Commission heard that Mr Miyazaki worked more than 70 hours a week for $40,000 in wages. His employment package also included accommodation costing $700 a week, a gym membership and two return flights to Japan each year.

Mr Miyazaki said Mr Best told him around June 2025 that he could drink up to 720 millilitres of alcohol at work each week. Not long afterwards, Mr Best became concerned about what he viewed as a decline in the chef’s energy, wellbeing and performance. However, the FWC’s recently published decision did not find that alcohol caused those health problems.

After Mr Best arranged a meeting with a sports massage therapist, Mr Miyazaki stopped drinking for four months.

Mr Best said that by November 2025, Mr Miyazaki’s performance appeared to be deteriorating again and he believed the chef had resumed drinking. In his evidence, Mr Best said Mr Miyazaki’s reliability, judgement, productivity and leadership had all declined.

A central concern for Mr Best, according to his evidence, was Mr Miyazaki’s alleged inability to run the kitchen effectively. He claimed the Head Chef had struggled to recruit, train and retain enough staff to meet the business’s needs.

Mr Best said the situation forced management to step into matters that should have been handled by the Head Chef. He was also concerned by the long hours Mr Miyazaki spent at the restaurant, saying routine work was taking increasingly longer to complete.

The FWC heard that Mr Best raised concerns about drinking at work and the standards expected of the Head Chef in at least two discussions with Mr Miyazaki.

According to the published decision, Mr Best said he made clear that immediate improvement was needed. He also acknowledged that the conversations were not documented, with some being informal and possibly taking place “in the sauna”.

Other employees, including chef Ferix Louberto and sommelier Haruna Suzuki, told the Commission that Mr Miyazaki regularly drank alcohol in the kitchen and was sometimes offered sake by customers. Both said they had seen him open the wine fridge and pour himself a drink.

In February 2026, while Mr Best was in Japan, his friend Annabella Sao helped with food preparation and washing dishes. During that shift, she also saw Mr Miyazaki drinking sake and notified Mr Best, the FWC heard.

After returning, Mr Best recalled telling Mr Miyazaki words to the effect of: “I don’t want to have to make decisions that affect all of us. I don’t need to do that. Stop drinking, get your job done.”

At an all-staff meeting on March 5, Mr Best told employees that several warnings had already been issued over drinking at work. He said anyone who continued would be dismissed.

A casual employee was dismissed for drinking during that shift. Mr Miyazaki told the FWC he did not think the disciplinary meeting was aimed specifically at him, and said he had not been told that he was receiving a formal warning or that his job was at risk.

Two days later, Mr Best approached Mr Miyazaki and asked whether he had the passion to continue in his role as Head Chef. Mr Miyazaki was ‘unable to answer the question’, the FWC heard.

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Later, following the dinner service at around 11pm, Mr Best told Mr Miyazaki that he was terminating his employment. At that time, Mr Best observed that Mr Miyazaki appeared intoxicated – although the FWC would ultimately find there was insufficient evidence to establish that Mr Miyazaki had been intoxicated at work.

According to Mr Miyazaki’s account of the conversation, there had been no mention of his drinking on the job, and he hadn’t received any warnings or feedback indicating performance concerns. He also denied being intoxicated during this conversation.

Just before 3am the next morning, Mr Best texted the staff group chat thanking them for ‘an amazing ride’, before removing Mr Miyazaki, Ms Suzuki and a third employee from the chat.

Mr Best then messaged the main staff chat again, stating, ‘Michi will no longer be working for Besuto. Please close chat.’

In a separate text to Mr Miyazaki, Mr Best wished him well and said he was ‘very sad’.

The following day Mr Best hand-delivered a termination letter to Mr Miyazaki’s residence, the FWC heard.

A few days later, Mr Best texted Mr Miyazaki again, stating: ‘Besuto Omakase is not closing. It is your choice to tell people that. It is my choice to tell people that you went back to Japan for family matters.’

The next day, Mr Best texted Mr Miyazaki saying lawyers and police could become involved in the dispute.

He wrote, according to the FWC decision: ‘You will hear from a lawyer to recover the $15k you owe me. Hope you can afford the lawyer fees. Or should I say you stole from the business and get the police involved? Let’s see how this plays out in the media and with lawyers?’

Mr Best then followed up with a copy of his solicitor’s letter demanding repayment of $28,000, which included a $25,000 loan and $3,000 for the alcohol he allegedly drank at work. He also told Mr Miyazaki by text that he had ‘a bar tab that sits at about 3k from your drinking on the job’.

Mr Best also sent messages to supplier group chats, which still included Mr Miyazaki, stating that Mr Miyazaki had been ‘fired for drinking on the job and not being able to perform’, the published decision states.

The FWC heard arguments from the restaurant that the dismissal followed the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code. This was disputed by Mr Miyazaki, who argued he was not given any warnings or opportunities to respond to specific allegations of serious misconduct.

Based on the evidence presented to the FWC, Deputy President Judith Wright said she did not accept that Mr Best believed Mr Miyazaki’s conduct was serious enough to justify immediate dismissal.

Deputy President Wright ultimately found there was insufficient evidence that Mr Miyazaki was intoxicated at work, insufficient evidence that performance issues justified dismissal and insufficient evidence that he had consumed the business’s alcohol without authorisation.

Instead, she found the real reason for his dismissal was Mr Miyazaki’s inability to answer Mr Best’s question about whether he still had the passion to continue as Head Chef.

The Commission found there was no valid reason for dismissal and that the dismissal was harsh, unjust and unreasonable. Besuto was ordered to pay Mr Miyazaki $11,753.84 plus superannuation.