 Barnicle was the longest-running member of the original "Chronicle" reporter's lineup; he lasted from the January 1982 premiere until 2005, save for a period between August 1998 and January 1999 when WCVB put him on a leave of absence, after a plagiarism investigation was launched involving several of Barnicle's "Boston Globe" articles.Like senior anchor Peter Mehegan, who retired from his nightly work on "Chronicle" in 2005, Barnicle has reappeared as a guest contributor since leaving.As "Chronicle" flourished, it soon rose to the top of the ratings, beating out the array of competition (from off-network reruns, to "Evening Magazine" and "Entertainment Tonight") at 7