Welcome to The Polished Beat, our weekly wrap-up of all the newsworthy happenings throughout the city. With our hectic schedules during this holiday season, it’s tough to keep up with all the news. Here’s what’s going on in Cleveland.

Increasingly, social media is taking over our lives. We’re hooked to facebook and twitter, and that is not lost upon political campaigners, advertisers and others trying to capitalize on our ADD. We point this out because Chris Ronayne, the head of University Circle Inc is using Facebook to announce his decision to run for Cuyahoga County’s District 3 Council seat. For so long, many speculated that he’d run for Executive, but his rollout shows otherwise. http://bit.ly/7FHLd9

The economy is down, but that didn’t stop Ohio consumers from purchasing record amounts of spirits. In 2009, consumers spent more than $734 million on alcohol. Can we blame the recession on the alcohol.....or the alcohol on the recession? http://bit.ly/55eX1y

Aspiring thespians, Cain Park will soon be holding auditions for its upcoming production of “Sweeney Todd.” Performances will be held in Mid June, but auditions begin February 1st. http://bit.ly/5IiSoS

DiverseCity Inc., a local multiculural marketing and recruitment company will founded by a Collinwood High School & Case Western Reserve alumnus will have a New Year New You Empowerment Brunch. The brunch, taking place at the Key Center will feature speakers from Cleveland Clinic and Golden Ciphers. For more information visit www.diversecityinc.org/.