NAMES & FACES

'O' No: Winfrey Show Sued Over Injuries

One woman's trip to a taping of Oprah Winfrey's talk show took a nasty turn when she was injured in a mad dash for seats inside the program's Chicago studio, a lawsuit claims.

The woman, Orit Greenberg, seeks at least $50,000 in damages, the Associated Press reports. Greenberg claims Harpo Studios failed to control audience members on Dec. 5, 2006, telling them to sit wherever they wanted -- allegedly stirring a stampede for the front row that knocked Greenberg down a flight of stairs, causing her "severe and permanent injuries."

A Harpo Studios spokeswoman told the AP that the studio does not comment on pending litigation.

On Bended Knee at Channel 9

WUSA Channel 9 meteorologist Kim Martucci got quite the on-air surprise yesterday morning as she and "News at 9" co-anchors Andrea Roane and Angie Goff finished up a cooking segment.

"What is Ben doing here?" Martucci said, seeing her boyfriend wander onto the set.

Roane and Goff played dumb as Martucci's beau got down on one knee and asked her to marry him (all archived for posterity in a video on WUSA's Web site).

Martucci's reply: "Yes, get up!" Roane and Goff, in on the plan from the get-go, immediately asked to see the ring.

Cedars-Sinai Fined in Drug Errors

California state regulators have slapped a $25,000 fine on Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, the L.A. Times reports. The action follows a series of mistakes that led to incorrect doses of the blood-thinner heparin being administered to children -- including the newborn twins of actor Dennis Quaid and his wife, Kimberly.

The twins, born prematurely to a surrogate mother in November, were twice given 1,000 times the intended dosage of heparin while being treated at the hospital. After staff noticed blood oozing from an intravenous site on one of the babies, another drug was administered to restore normal blood-clotting function. The twins have since recovered and been taken home.

In December, the AP reported that the Quaids had sued the makers of heparin, claiming that the company was negligent when it packaged different doses in similar-looking vials.

Bah Gets the Boot

Looks like Washington-based "Apprentice Africa" contestant Omar Bah, 35 , will soon be back in the States. On Monday, the actor and World Bank consultant was the fourth contestant to be "fired" from the reality TV show, currently filming in Lagos, Nigeria, and airing throughout Africa; the challenge that did him in involved hotel interior design and a tricky team-leader switch, Bah reports.

In June, Bah will appear in Vickie Evans's "A Change Is Gonna Come" at the Lincoln Theatre. Meanwhile, Woodbridge native and fellow "Apprentice Africa" contestant Eunice Omole, 28, is still going strong.

End Notes

Spotted: Belmont University fan Vince Gill cheered from behind his team's bench at its first-round NCAA game against Duke at Verizon Center on Thursday night. The country star, a longtime friend of Belmont Bruins coach Rick Byrd, looked to be enjoying himself -- until the very end, when the Bruins lost by just one point. . . . Author Janet Langhart Cohen, wife of former defense secretary William Cohen, donned a jeweled coat to portray Queen Esther in yesterday's National Purim Parade, sponsored by the Ohev Sholom -- the National Synagogue.

Quoted: "It was a no-brainer. I heard George was making a movie and I said, 'When?' If he had asked me to make peanut butter sandwiches for the catering, I would have said, 'Crunchy or smooth?' " -- Ren¿e Zellweger, telling In Style magazine just how eager she was to work with George Clooney in their upcoming film, "Leatherheads."

-- Marissa Newhall, from staff and wire reports