Barnicle to write for Herald. It was nearly six years ago that the Boston Herald reported that then-Boston Globe columnist Mike Barnicle had lifted one-liners from a George Carlin book. Within weeks, Barnicle was gone amid accusations of fabrication and plagiarism - charges that he denied, but that he never adequately explained.

Well, what goes around comes around. Because now comes word that new editorial director Ken Chandler is on the verge of announcing that Barnicle will be brought in as a Herald columnist. The announcement is said to be scheduled for Monday, although that could be moved up since it's apparent that the entire Boston media world already knows about it.

Barnicle's first column is supposedly scheduled for Tuesday. No word on whether he'll be a staff member or a freelancer, or if he'll write once, twice, or more a week. The guess here is that he'll freelance so that he can keep doing his show on WTKK Radio (96.9 FM). Perhaps he can be persuaded at least to give up his low-energy Sunday column in the New York Daily News.

No doubt Andy Costello did much during the past year to keep Chandler from bringing in Barnicle, a move that had been rumored since last summer. Last week, of course, Costello was moved out of the editor's job. This week, here's Mike!

The staff began finding out about the impending move on Thursday. Media Log's sources suggest there is considerable unhappiness about bringing in an aging hack at a time when the mantra is supposedly all about attracting younger readers.

As for whether that discontent will extend to anything more than grumbling, Monday should be a good indication.