Nutter flying to Florence

Mayor Nutter is flying to Florence right now for the Creative Metro Economies meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors, the nonpartisan group he is president of.

City Representative Desiree Peterkin-Bell and the administration liaison to City Council, Tumar Alexander, are joining him. The USCM is picking up the tab for their travel costs.

"They will be discussing culture, the creative economy and sports and how these are engines of economic development and looking at best-practice strategies for investing in these areas," Nutter spokesman Mark McDonald said.

Nutter will give a speech on the subject Thursday and return to Philly on Sunday.

Like Tianjin, China - where Nutter visited in December - Florence has a "sister city" agreement with Philly.

The mayors of Indianapolis; Columbia, S.C.; Louisville; and Mesa, Ariz., are also going on the trip. Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi will host.