Big Rube was an influencer before influencer was a job description. And in the early 2000s, he influenced athletes and hip-hop artists to wear Mitchell & Ness’ vintage jerseys, which can cost more than $300 a pop. Celebrities started wearing throwbacks and business was booming.
But Mitchell & Ness didn’t fulfill their side of the deal, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
The brand, which Fanatics bought in 2022, is obligated to pay Harley an unspecified commission for sales attributed to his marketing efforts, the lawsuit says. But it has refused to even calculate how much that commission might be, the suit says.
“They’re not in this location for nothing,” Harley said Friday across from the new Mitchell & Ness store. “I created that and I want what’s mine.”
A spokesperson for Fanatics said the company hadn’t been served the lawsuit and was unable to comment.
Reuben “Big Rube” Harley standing outside the new Mitchell & Ness flagship store on Walnut Street. June 5, 2026.Abraham Gutman
Harley became a Mitchell & Ness customer in the early 1990s, purchasing throwback Negro League baseball jerseys and caps, the complaint says. A decade later, in 2001, he approached then-Mitchell & Ness owner, Peter Capolino, with a vision of marketing the throwbacks to hip-hop artists and athletes.
Harley and Capolino entered into a “partly written and partly oral” agreement, the suit says, in which Mitchell & Ness would pay Harley commission based on sales attributable to his promotional efforts. The suit does not include a copy of the written part, say whether the commission was in perpetuity, or specify the percent of sales Harley claims he is owed.
Mitchell & Ness also made Harley the company’s marketing director with a salary.
“I got paid, but the agreement was a piece of the pie,” he said.
As the new marketing director, Harley contacted athletes, celebrities, and artists in his network, the suit says. The throwbacks trend caught fire. Just a few months later, now-disgraced musician Sean “Diddy” Combs co-hosted the 2002 American Music Awards wearing a rotation of vintage jerseys.
Mitchell & Ness’ annual sales rose from $2.2 million in 1999 to roughly $25 million in 2002, the suit says.
The new owners must respect the agreement with Harley, the suits says, and pay him his share of the sales that he is owed. The complaint does not specify a percent or amount.
“Big Rube did his part,” said attorney Emeka Igwe. “Mitchell & Ness’ part was to give him a percentage of the sales from all the revenues that they were getting. And that was never done.”
After parting ways with Mitchell & Ness in the mid-2000s, Harley continued to reinvent himself. He launched an apparel line, wrote a Philadelphia Daily News column, and became a chef.
He decided to bring the lawsuit now because he is battling stage-four prostate cancer. Harley said he has been assessing his life and wants to leave a legacy for his 22-year-old daughter.
Standing across the street from the new flagship store in Center City, about a dozen friends expressed their support.
“We ain’t gonna stop until they build you a statue out here,” Simon Carr said. “You deserve it.”
The revelation was so unsettling that the Padres put it on the videoboard, dentists weighed in, and millions of people suddenly found themselves evaluating the oral hygiene habits of the Phillies’ first baseman.
The funniest part is that Harper seemed genuinely confused by the backlash. “I’ve done it forever,” he said, which somehow makes it worse.
What elevates this from ordinary internet nonsense to a true Philly sports story is that Harper is currently one of the best players in baseball, and yet this became a legitimate multiday discussion.
For the record, dentists do not recommend the technique. But Harper has two MVPs, hundreds of home runs, and apparently very clean teeth, so hard to argue with the results.
Sean Reifel (left), Melanie Moreno (middle), Sincere Rhea (right) are contestants of Love Island USA 2026.Ben Symons/PEACOCK
Three Philly-area contestants on ‘Love Island’? The Eagles agenda is spreading: B+
And within one episode, Philadelphia had already established diplomatic relations.
North Philly’s Melanie Moreno and Cape May’s Sincere Rhea immediately bonded over the Eagles, with Moreno declaring, “Literally cut me and I’ll bleed green.”
The funniest part about Philly representation on reality TV is that contestants from here almost never ease people into it. Within minutes, viewers knew Moreno was from Philadelphia because she announced it the same way most Philadelphians do: loudly and with complete confidence.
Meanwhile, Rhea seems genuinely wholesome enough that the producers will almost certainly try to create problems for him by Episode 3.
The real winner, though, may be Philadelphia itself. The city somehow landed three contestants on one of the biggest reality shows, ensuring that for at least the next few weeks, viewers will get Eagles fandom and blunt honesty on their screens.
Winners at the North America’s 50 Best Restaurants announcement.50 Best
Philly restaurants keep collecting national awards like it’s normal now: A
The funny thing is that Philly food fans have become almost spoiled by this stuff.
A few years ago, getting one restaurant on a list like this would have triggered a citywide victory lap. Now the reaction is more along the lines of: “Only two? What happened to Royal Sushi?”
To be fair, both restaurants dropped in the rankings this year. But they also remained on a list featuring just 50 restaurants across the United States and Canada, which is a pretty good reminder of how much Philly’s dining scene has changed.
Not that long ago, national restaurant conversations about Philadelphia basically began and ended with cheesesteaks.
Now we’re arguing about Michelin recommendations, international rankings, tasting menus, and whether a restaurant fell from 7th to 11th … that’s a good problem to have.
Local drag royalty Martha Graham Cracker sings during the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Pride Concert on June 4, 2025, at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Philadelphia gave Martha Graham Cracker a fitting farewell: A+
The tributes poured in from every corner of the city — theater, music, drag, dance, politics — which says a lot about the rare place he occupied in Philadelphia culture.
But one detail from the obituary stood out. David Devan, the former head of Opera Philadelphia, was at the hospital when van Reigersberg died June 1, the first day of Pride Month. Leaving afterward, he watched the city’s Pride rainbow lights come on across Philadelphia.
“It was the first day of Pride Month, and our greatest queer Philadelphian died,” Devan said.
For a performer who spent decades making people laugh, feel welcome, and feel seen, it’s difficult to imagine a more fitting image than Philadelphia lighting up in rainbows on the night he died.
San Diego Padres’ Nick Castellanos looks on during the third inning against the Washington Nationals, on May 31, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)Nick Wass
The Nick Castellanos reunion tour lasted about as long as expected: C
When Nick Castellanos returned to Citizens Bank Park this week, the Phillies played a scoreboard tribute featuring some of his memorable moments from the 2022 postseason. Twenty-four hours later, the Padres designated him for assignment. The timing was brutal.
Castellanos hit .191 in a part-time role with San Diego after the Phillies released him in spring training. Still, there’s something oddly fitting about the whole thing happening in Philadelphia.
For all the frustration that came with the final year of the Castellanos era, he was also part of some genuinely great Phillies moments: The standing ovations, the postseason homers, the absolute certainty that if something weird happened in a game, Castellanos would somehow be involved.
Now, he’s looking for another opportunity at age 34. And if this is the end of the road, at least Philadelphia got one last chance to tip its cap before the baseball gods immediately delivered one final, extremely Nick Castellanos plot twist.
Apple Cinemas has scrapped plans to reopen the former Riverview Plaza theater in South Philly, closed since 2020. Photo taken May 6, 2019.STEVEN M. FALK / Staff Photographer
And what makes it sting is that people were genuinely excited about this one.
The plan included bringing movies back to a theater that’s been dark since 2020, adding an IMAX screen, and giving Philly something it currently doesn’t have: a true IMAX theater. Instead, the project collapsed amid a dispute between Apple Cinemas and property owner Bart Blatstein over the condition of the building and lease obligations.
The result is that the giant empty theater remains a giant empty theater.
Cristopher Sánchez gets a Standing Ovation for giving up a run. 👏👏👏
That’s not just a Phillies record. That’s an MLB record.
By reaching 45⅔ scoreless innings, Sánchez passed Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell and moved into sixth place on the all-time list, regardless of handedness.
What’s remarkable is how quickly this has gone from surprising to expected.
Bryce Harper probably summed it up best when he said it feels normal now. A pitcher is doing things that haven’t been done in generations, and the reaction has become, “Yep, that’s Sánchez.” A few nervous moments, a bunch of awkward swings at changeups, seven scoreless innings, and another historic number attached to his name.
The streak will end eventually, but right now, Philadelphia is watching one of the best stretches of pitching in baseball history unfold every fifth day.
Law enforcement officials arrested 25 people and rescued more than 50 birds after breaking up a cockfight in Delaware County over the weekend.
The Pennsylvania SPCA Animal Law Enforcement Team, along with local authorities including the Pennsylvania State Police and Central Delaware County Organized Crime Unit, interrupted the cockfight Saturday night at a home on the 500 block of Franklin Street in Chester, officials said. There, investigators removed 52 live birds and discovered three dead roosters while serving a search warrant on the property.
“Cockfighting is one of the most brutal forms of animal cruelty; these birds are forced to fight to near death one cut at a time, suffering devastating injuries in the process,” Nicole Wilson, director of animal law enforcement and shelter operations at the PSPCA, said in a statement.
PSPCA officials received a tip about the cockfight on Thursday, the organization said. Investigators went on to surveil the property, and noted a number of people entering and exiting it — some of whom were carrying “animal transport carriers,” the PSPCA said.
After securing a warrant, PSPCA investigators received support in serving it from the Central Delaware County Organized Crime Unit because of the number of people involved in the cockfight.
The animals rescued from the property were taken to the PSPCA’s Philadelphia headquarters, where they were to receive exams and medical care. The birds will remain in PSPCA custody until their owners surrender them, or a court case related to the incident is adjudicated, the organization said.
Officials did not identify the people arrested.
Cockfighting, the PSPCA said in its statement, is a felony in Pennsylvania. The investigation is continuing.
The PSPCA asked that anyone with information contact its animal cruelty hotline at 866-601-SPCA (7722) or email cruelty@pspca.org. Tips may be left anonymously.
Two fatal shooting marked a particularly violent Tuesday in Chester, roughly a year after the city celebrated a steep decline in homicides involving firearms in the first half of 2025.
The fatalities were from separate shootings, one of which left a third person in critical condition, according to the city’s mayor. No arrests were made and officials did not have descriptions of any suspects.
“These acts of violence are heartbreaking and serve as another painful reminder of the ongoing challenges facing our community and the devastating consequences violence continues to ave on individuals, families, and neighborhoods,” said Chester Mayor Stefan Roots in a statement Wednesday.
Roots lamented a third incident, in which a police officer was assaulted Tuesday and suffered lacerations during a domestic dispute call. The officer was treated at a hospital and released as the incident remains under investigation.
While year-to-date nonfatal and fatal shooting statistics were not immediately available, Tuesday’s deaths mark the latest in a spate of shootings.
Though zero shootings were reported in March, The Delaware County Daily Times reports there have been 10 since April.
Last summer, the Chester police reported 15 nonfatal shootings just over the midway mark of the year. That translated to a 16% decrease in nonfatal shootings compared to 2024. Homicides in the first half of 2025 had also dropped 41% compared to the same time in the year prior, according to the Chester police midyear report.
The summer would go on to be one of the safest the Chester ever had, largely credited to national trends in declining violence and the yearslong collaboration among community advocates, police, and the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office.
Though Tuesday’s violence was alarming enough to warrant a news conference with both Roots and Chester Police Commissioner Katrina Blackwell, the mayor emphasized the continued violence prevention work across stakeholders and law enforcement.
Chester’s Safe Summer Initiative will continue to provide resources to youth and families, as well as positive opportunities in the city, said Roots.
“But public safety cannot rest solely on the shoulders of law enforcement,” he said in a statement, adding that people who “know something” should “say something.”
Delaware County’s new emergency services director wants to build something sustainable.
Gary Vinnacombe is a Delco native who has spent the last two decades overseeing EMS teams across Delaware and Chester Counties. Last month, he took the helm of Delaware County’s emergency services department, a homecoming of sorts for the longtime first responder, who got his start at Haverford’s Manoa Fire Company.
Vinnacombe, 43, replaces interim director Ed Beebe, who oversaw Delaware County’s emergency services for 18 months after former director Timothy Boyce was charged with indecent assault, among other offenses, related to his alleged groping of a female coworker.
Vinnacombe is taking over Delco’s emergency services apparatus at a pivotal time. The county is continuing to navigate the fallout from Crozer-Chester Medical Center’s closure, and some of its municipalities are considering emergency service mergers and cooperative authorities to fill gaps in service. Now, Vinnacombe says he’s eager to work with emergency responders across the county to build a lasting system that can serve Delco’s residents.
A 911 dispatcher working at the Delaware County Emergency Services Center on Jan. 5, 2022. Delco native Gary Vinnacombe recently stepped up to lead the department. Thomas Hengge / Staff Photographer
Vinnacombe grew up in Delaware County and is a 2001 graduate of Haverford High School. He holds an associate’s degree in nursing science from Delaware County Community College, a bachelor’s degree in emergency and disaster management from American Military University, and a master’s of public administration from Anna Maria College.
Vinnacombe has worn many hats over his two-plus decades in emergency management. He joined the Manoa Fire Company as a teenager, where he rose up to become the company’s EMS captain. He spent over a decade as the deputy chief of EMS at Darby’s Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital and is a longtime adjunct faculty member at Delaware County Community College, where he teaches EMT classes, municipal police academy emergency responder training, and CPR. Most recently, Vinnacombe spent 14 years with the West Grove Fire Company in Chester County, where he was assistant chief and oversaw day-to-day operations and employee recruitment and retention. He currently lives in Chester County.
Vinnacombe said the Crozer fallout is an “ongoing evaluation” for his department. He’s optimistic about ChristianaCare’s soon-to-open Aston and Springfield micro hospitals (the Aston facility is set to open this summer, and the Springfield facility next summer). The region’s existing hospitals have “done a fantastic job of absorbing that volume,” Vinnacombe said, and local municipalities have made a strong effort in “coming together to ensure that service continues to get delivered.”
As the county rebuilds its emergency services, Vinnacombe said, sustainability is top of mind.
“We can build all these great things all day long,” he said. “If we don’t have a plan or a mechanism to sustain them, it doesn’t matter what we build.”
However, he added, it’s important to take a close look at the funding mechanisms for different regional service models, as “every one of them has pros and cons.”
“I would certainly say, obviously anything that we can do to help people collaborate, or bring the right people to the table, we certainly want to,” he said.
The difference is night and day for Vinnacombe’s first responders, he said. Now, police, fire, and EMS officials can get real-time notes from 911 calls, fortifying them with a detailed report before they even get on the scene.
“The residents of Delaware County are in such a better space because of it,” Vinnacombe said.
Vinnacombe’s department is preparing for a busy summer. The PGA Tour Championship, FIFA World Cup, MLB All-Star Game, and Semiquincentennial are all descending on the Philly area in the coming months, and Delaware County officials are expecting a wave of tourists — and with them, an increased need for emergency responders.
Delco’s emergency services department is planning to support the upcoming PGA Tour at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square with extra first responders, and Vinnacombe’s team has been busy filling requests for backup from municipalities.
As he settles in, Vinnacombe is confident that Delco is “only going up.”
“The services are only going to get better. Technology’s only going to continue to evolve,” he said. “The investments that the county has made into technology and public safety have improved the services that get delivered.”
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
At a school board policy committee meeting Tuesday, administrators presented updated regulations around bullying and harassment, including that using artificial intelligence to create or share “sexualized, indecent, demeaning or intimate content involving another person” was prohibited.
But more changes are possible, administrators said Tuesday. Scott Hand, the district’s director of technology innovation and instructional design, said Radnor “will be engaging outside professionals beginning this summer into fall” to review its policies and practices.
Some board members also suggested the district retain outside help to be ready for another incident.
“The statistics say, something like this will happen again,” said Susan Stern, who asked administrators to consider hiring “a resource we could have on hand.”
“We’re going to work really hard to educate our kids that it doesn’t happen here in Radnor, but our best response is to be prepared,” Stern said.
Schools have increasingly been forced to grapple with deepfakes as students use generative AI to manipulate photos of their peers — sometimes with tools that can convert clothed photos into naked ones. Pennsylvania has criminalized explicit AI-generated images as child sexual abuse material, and another measure advancing in Harrisburg would require schools to immediately notify law enforcement about AI incidents.
Radnor drew intense criticism from some victims’ parents for its handling of the deepfakes, which came to light in December and resulted in a student being charged with harassment.
District officials said no images were ever discovered. But parents said the district had failed to adequately investigate boys’ reports of pornographic videos and downplayed the incident in community messages, further harming victims.
Parents also accused the district of failing to initiate a Title IX harassment investigation, arguing it was wrong to characterize the incident as “off-campus.”
Radnor parents are organizing a panel discussion Thursday in King of Prussia, with deepfake victims from Radnor and Lancaster Country Day School, advocates, and state officials, including Attorney General Dave Sunday, describing risks and how schools can better respond.
The rules presented to Radnor’s policy committee Tuesday specify that the district has authority over off-campus behavior when it “materially and substantially disrupts the operations of the school” — a common legal standard.
Jannie Lau, the committee’s chair, said that given how online kids are, any online harassment would seem to meet that threshold.
“That’s my takeaway — it would be extremely rare for this conduct to happen, and for us to come to the conclusion it doesn’t impact our operations,” Lau said.
Lau said the district should consider hiring an outside law firm to conduct future Title IX investigations, to ensure more impartiality.
“It’s just human nature — you don’t want to bite the hand that feeds you,” Lau said, noting that a district solicitor might have an interest in siding with the district, to avoid jeopardizing that relationship.
In comments Tuesday, Audrey Greenberg, a parent of one of the victims, said she appreciated the rule changes, but that they didn’t go far enough. If a student reports AI-generated sexual content, she said, the district’s Title IX coordinator and central administrators should be notified immediately.
She also said the description of “off-campus” behavior was too vague — saying deepfakes harm students’ attendance, friendships, and mental health — and argued that the rules wouldn’t prevent a poor administrative response.
“It was so painful to get those emails calling the event rumors and speculation, when a crime occurred,” Greenberg said, referring to messages from Superintendent Ken Batchelor, including one that described the deepfakes as images made “to move and dance.”
“For crying out loud, this is pornographic material,” Greenberg said.
Stern, the board member, said earlier in the meeting that Radnor would be dealing with the fallout for a long time.
“I don’t think that there’s anyone in this district who will ever hear the words ‘generative AI’ again, and not feel a little tug,” she said. “We had children who were harmed.”
Following months of fiery opposition from residents that saw protests and halted municipal meetings, the developers of an East Whiteland data center called their own bluff, telling the township that they will scrap their revised plans and instead build a previously approved 1.5 million-square-foot version.
The decision takes a smaller plan, proposed last month, off the table — but it also eliminates a much bigger version that residents vehemently opposed.
Limited plans were submitted and were sent to consultants for review, officials said. The developers told the board that it was a concession they’d make only if the township’s three elected officials moved quickly on an approval.
In an email, Lou Colagreco, an attorney representing the developers, said that the decision to withdraw the project was partly due to the timeframe from the board, but “the larger factor was that it became obvious that no accommodation which our client offered would be acceptable.”
“We thought that our offer to pivot to a much smaller data center together with enhanced landscaping, sound attenuation, diminished water usage and other modifications would be well received,” he said. “It became apparent to us, however, that the real issue had little to do with these factors. It was simply data center vs. no data center.
Colagreco described the current proposal “a good plan” that developers “are anxious to build.”
Residents considered the downsized project — smaller than one of the amended plans that would have increased square footage by roughly 60% — a win. They’re still pursuing legal action, arguing that the initial approvals have now expired.
The project will sit on about 100 acres at 13 S. Bacton Hill Rd., on a Superfund site near a residential development and the popular Chester Valley Trail.
It has been a winding saga for the project, which saw its first approvals back in 2018 by the zoning hearing board before receiving a final greenlight from the supervisors in 2024.
The developer has maintained that the project would be built in some capacity but argued that the newer plans would have a lower impact on the community.
Under the original 2024 plans they said they’ll move forward with, the project — which is 1.5 million square feet across two buildings — would include antenna yards, microwave towers, and cooling towers that rely on evaporating 3 million gallons of water a day.
“We’ve been accused of bluffing. This is not bluffing,” Sentinel Data Centers CEO Josh Rabina told the supervisors and residents in Aprilwhen presenting plans to shrink the facility. “The approved plan is less desirable for us and for our customers, is less elegant and less efficient of a design, but it’s functional, it’s profitable, it’s vested, and it gives us certainty.”
ATLANTIC CITY — When the nation’s largest smoke shop expo descended on the convention center here earlier this spring, sales reps scrambled to offload pallets of a controversial synthetic kratom product known as “7-OH” before lawmakers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey ban their products.
The addictive drug 7-Hydroxymitragynine, a highly concentrated lab-made compound derived from the kratom plant, flooded the bustling floor of the CHAMPS trade show.
Yet some vendors said they weren’t worried about bills working their way through Harrisburg and Trenton.
Their suppliers had already cooked up new recipes.
Matt Swann, a real estate investor turned 7-OH distributor from Salt Lake City, promoted a new product called “Cori,” a four-pack of tablets wrapped in a sleek green package. Swann’s offering draws from corydalis, yet another plant from East Asia that produces similar pain-killing alkaloids to kratom — but is not the target of any proposed bans.
“Legislation is what shuts me down,” Swann said, at his one-man expo booth in March. “This is how we stay ahead.”
Half a dozen 7-OH sales reps told The Inquirer that companies are changing their formulas to preemptively sidestep legislation prompted by concerns over the drug widely dubbed “gas station heroin” for its promised high and addictive potential.
Federal authorities began taking steps last summer to classify 7-OH as a controlled substance due to its widespread availability and reports of abuse. At least a dozen states have moved to outlaw the substance, and bills in Pennsylvania and New Jersey are being considered.
But in the booming gray market for synthetic drugs — from kratom to lab-made THC to psychedelics — the difference between legal and illegal can be as small as a molecule.
Perks’ booth at the CHAMPS B2B trade show at the Atlantic City Convention Center on March 19.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
To dodge the crackdown, some companies are swapping their active ingredient from 7-OH to a related compound called mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, or “pseudo.” Others are pivoting to 13-Hydroxy Mitragynine, or “13-OH.” Both function in similar ways, binding to opioid receptors in the brain.
And vendors promised the variants are just as powerful.
Some kratom advocates welcome restrictions on 7-OH and other chemically concentrated alkaloids. But they also worry that lower potency, natural kratom products will get caught up in sweeping bans.
Swann criticized the panic around 7-OH. He described both it and his new corydalis product as safer alternatives to opioids that can help people living with chronic pain.
Swann said he is clear with buyers about the risk of dependency. Kratom-derived pain relievers are far less fatal than opioids, whose pharmaceutical producers, he argued, are threatened by the drug’s popularity.
“It’s the safest alternative,” he said. “Kratom is 10-fold the product.”
Matt Swann at his Siete 7 / Coco Distro booth At the CHAMPS B2B trade show at the Atlantic City Convention Center.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
A game of molecules
Last summer, Florida passed an emergency ban specifically targeting 7-OH. Other states, like Vermont, have banned kratom altogether, as well as any related alkaloids, preemptively cutting out alternative compounds like 13-OH or pseudo.
New Jersey lawmakers are advancing legislation that would similarly classify 7-OH as a controlled substance, although it makes no mention of these related alkaloids.
Another bill under consideration in Harrisburg mimics Vermont’s strategy by outlawing all products that contain over 2% 7-Hydroxymitragynine, as well as any other “synthetic, semi-synthetic, or chemically manipulated alkaloid” derived from the kratom plant.
“They can call it whatever they want,” said Sen. Tracy Pennycuick (R., Montgomery County), the bill’s lead sponsor. “If it comes up 2%, it’s still banned.”
Still, as written, the ban might cover new variants like “pseudo” and 13-OH but not the latest extracts from the corydalis plant.
Meanwhile, pro-kratom lobbying groups have pushed lawmakers to create clear legal definitions between naturally sourced, low-potency kratom products and those ultra-concentrated, synthetic forms like 7-OH.
Dallas Vasquez, CEO of Mitra9, a Florida-based company that distributes kratom and kava-infused beverages across the country, said the two products are “not equivalent from a chemistry or pharmacological standpoint.”
He said Mitra9 does not use concentrated 7-OH to make the drinks more potent. His products contain less than 2% total kratom alkaloids, with low levels of 7-OH that occur naturally in extracts from the plant leaves, according to lab tests reported on Mitra9’s website.
“My business is built on the bet that the responsible segment of the market will survive,” Vasquez said. “If it doesn’t, I lose too. So I have every incentive to be honest about what the products are.”
Kratom booth at the CHAMPS B2B trade show at the Atlantic City Convention Center on March 19.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Booming profits, clandestine makers
The CHAMPS trade show traditionally serves as a meetup for recreational drugmakers and retailers of cannabis. That the kiosks were dominated by 7-OH vendors is a sign of kratom’s growing popularity and profitability.
Large kratom companies pushing products with opioid-inspired names like “Opia” and “Perks” can bring in millions in revenue per month, according to Swann, the vendor from Salt Lake City.
Many companies are supplied by a small network of kratom manufacturers that synthesize products, often on condition that the makers’ names be kept secret, according to Swann and company owners who spoke with The Inquirer. So long as the compounds remain legal at the federal level, there are labs willing to make them en masse, which sellers like Swann can distribute in states without total bans.
For everyone involved, profits are high.
“[Manufacturer] profit margins are in the 5 to 10% range, but they’re doing millions and millions of dollars,” Swann said. “My profit margin is closer to 200% to 300%. If I invest a quarter-million dollars, I can usually come out with a million.”
Swann said he started his own business with $250,000 in capital and a phone call to a lab in Utah. His brand, Siete, launched within months. He estimated that his new “Cori” product had a life span of three years before it, too, would be banned.
Camille Winans, a sales representative for a company selling new 13-OH products, argued that kratom had been demonized by lawmakers and that keeping the products on shelves amounted to “harm reduction.”
However, medical experts say there has been an uptick in admissions to rehabs from people who got hooked on kratom, including in Pennsylvania.
Jason Kirby, chief medical officer of Recovery Centers of America, worries that states would ban 7-OH without the necessary medical resources for people who are dependent on it. He said hospitals struggle with an influx of kratom users in states that passed sweeping bans.
“One day it’s legal, and the next day it’s not,” he said. “So I’m going into the vape shop to refill my need, and it’s not there anymore, and I’m going to the emergency room in withdrawal.”
Bans would also not prevent manufacturers from finding new loopholes, he said.
“We’re gonna be dealing with a brand new synthetic substance that we’re gonna have to figure out all over again, and figure out pathways and management for,” he said. “We always have to stay ahead of them.”
A man who shot his girlfriend twice in the back on a quiet Chester street on Wednesday night later turned his gun on responding police officers, prompting them to shoot him, authorities said.
The man and the woman — whom authorities did not identify — were in critical condition at an area hospital, Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said.
Authorities said the man shot the woman shortly before 9 p.m. near the intersection of East Ninth and Walnut Streets. Then, Rouse said, the man opened fire on passing vehicles.
No drivers were struck.
When officers arrived at the scene, the man turned his weapon toward them, authorities said, and at least one officer shot him.
Helicopter footage of the scene shows more than two dozen bullet casings littering the streets and what appears to be a parked power-washing truck riddled with bullet holes.
A Chester Police Department spokesperson did not return a request for additional information on Thursday.
Rouse said his office was reviewing camera footage of the incident and would “make sure we have every angle that depicts the events that transpired.” When its investigation is complete, he said, charges will be filed against the man.
Meanwhile, he praised law enforcement for its response to the shooting.
“I can tell you with confidence that the actions of the Chester Police Department were nothing short of lifesaving and the defendant in this case had every intention to kill anyone he could,” Rouse said.
The Delco 10 Miler race is back for what organizers hope will be a bigger and better second lap. Changes for 2026 include a revised course, more than twice the number of runners, and a faster pace requirement.
The race will take place on Oct. 4. Registration is open. This year’s race will be capped at 2,500 runners, up from 1,200 last year. About 700 runners registered in the first 24 hours, race director Kevin Nolan said.
Some residents and drivers passing through the area were unhappy with road closures, which cut a long swath across the county. The course‘s adjustments should mean fewer closures along main roads.
“Logistically with all this traffic, it’s a tough race to manage,” Nolan said. “It’s tougher than the Philadelphia ones … because I’ve talked to all the race directors and they don’t have the issues that we have to deal with, with all this traffic.”
Course changes
The race will again start at Rose Tree Park in Upper Providence and end at Subaru Park in Chester. Last year, the race shut down parts of Route 252 and Route 320, as well as portions of Third, Fourth, and Fifth Streets in Chester, including a loop that took runners past Subaru Park before returning.
(function() {
var l2 = function() {
new pym.Parent(‘delco_10_miler_2026’,
‘https://media.inquirer.com/storage/inquirer/projects/innovation/arcgis_iframe/delco_10_miler_2026.html’);
};
if (typeof(pym) === ‘undefined’) {
var h = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)[0],
s = document.createElement(‘script’);
s.type = ‘text/javascript’;
s.src = ‘https://pym.nprapps.org/pym.v1.min.js’;
s.onload = l2;
h.appendChild(s);
} else {
l2();
}
})();
This year, runners will turn west on Rose Valley Road in Nether Providence and travel through residential streets before crossing Route 320 and heading into Chester and Widener University’s campus. The course crosses I-95 on the Melrose Avenue bridge again before heading south toward Subaru Park. The loop at the end has been eliminated.
The new course:
Starts at Rose Tree Park South on Providence Road/Route 252
Right on West Rose Valley Road
Left on Bickmore Drive
Left on Sheffield Drive
Left on Georgetown Road (becomes Media Parkway)
Left on Chestnut Parkway (becomes Chestnut Street)
Right on East 18th Street
Left on Walnut Street
Left on East 14th Street
Right on Melrose Avenue
Right on Morton Avenue
Right on East Fifth Street
Left on Penn Street
Right on West Third Street
Right on Tillman Street
Left on West Fourth Street
Left on Rainey Street
Ends at Union Yards at Subaru Park
Getting the word out
Some residents complained to race organizers that they weren’t told ahead of time that their streets were being closed.
“As much as you try to get the word out, there are people that don’t know,” Nolan said. “So you have to do more.”
This year, volunteers will walk some sections of the route ahead of time to let residents know about the race and road closures, Nolan said.
St. John Chrysostom Catholic Church in Nether Providence told the Delco Times last year that the parish was not consulted about the race, which took place on a Sunday and impacted their Mass schedule. This year’s route avoids St. John’s, as well as St. Katharine Drexel Catholic Church in Chester and some fire departments.
Faster pace
In another change this year, the race will have a faster pace requirement. Runners will have to maintain a minimum pace of 13 minutes, 30 seconds per mile. Last year’s minimum pace was 15 minutes per mile.
“Police are after us to open the course up. They were pretty aggravated last year with all the walkers,” Nolan said. “You hate to kick someone off the course.”
A few more quality-of-life improvements include more bathrooms at the start and at water stops. There will also be four staggered starts based on runner speeds.
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
