NAMES & FACES

Winehouse to Phone It In

Too little, too late: Yesterday, Brit chanteuse Amy Winehouse was granted a work visa to enter the United States and attend the Grammy Awards, but "due to the logistics involved" she won't be making the trip, her reps told the Associated Press.

Winehouse's visa request was initially denied. State Department spokesman Tom Casey fielded questions about the denial at a briefing yesterday, saying Winehouse had applied for a waiver and that the Department of Homeland Security was considering it. Despite the later reprieve, Winehouse will remain in London, performing (and accepting any awards) via satellite.

Winehouse, 24, recently entered a rehab facility to deal with substance-abuse issues. She is up for six Grammys.

End Notes

Expecting: Kyle MacLachlan, 48, and his wife, producer Desiree Gruber, 39, will welcome their first child this summer, People reports. The couple met in 1999 and have been married for six years.

Spotted: Joe Pantoliano, 56, sporting cowboy boots and a Yale baseball cap while downing Diet Coke and espresso at Zola's Thursday night happy hour . . . Meanwhile, Mickey Rooney and three friends dined at the Palm, where patrons unabashedly surrounded the 87-year-old actor . . . And at the Ronald Reagan Building, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and basketball legend Earl "The Pearl" Monroe took in the premiere screening of "Black Magic," a film on the civil rights movement as seen through the eyes of basketball players and coaches (set to air on ESPN in March).

-- Marissa Newhall, from staff and wire reports