Kerry Barrett leaves Fox 29, among other changes for the station

BIG CHANGES are afoot at Fox 29.

The biggest may be the departure of longtime anchor Kerry Barrett.

I hear that Barrett, whose contract expired at the end of the year, ended her relationship amicably and has another on-air job in the works. She's been with the station since 2008, working as a nighttime anchor until she moved to the mornings after returning from maternity leave last year.

Lucy Noland took her place at night. Speaking of Noland, she and co-anchor Iain Page will get a slight schedule shift. They will clock in Sunday through Thursday, rather than their current Monday through Friday grind. Dawn Timmeney will anchor Friday nights with Chris O'Connell.

But back to mornings . . .

Taking over for Barrett on a temporary basis is Lauren Johnson, who now anchors the weekend broadcast with Karen Hepp. While she's interim anchoring with Chris Murphy, I hear there's a possibility she could become a permanent fixture in the 4 to 6 a.m. time slot. Johnson still will anchor the Saturday show, while Hepp will work Sundays alone.

That also means that Alex Holley, Mike Jerrick and the "Good Day Philadelphia" gang are moving up an hour and will start their broadcast at 6 a.m.

DJ Casey Reed is back in the Philly market. Reed took over the drive-time spot from 4 to 8 p.m. from Rat and Puff at Q102 yesterday. She was also named music director under program director Jared Fallon.

Reed previously clocked in at Wired 96.5 for nine years before leaving the station in March of last year. The South Philly native, Temple grad and Sexy Singles Class of '10 tried her hand at a syndicated radio show in New York but preferred her hometown.

Reed started her career at Q102 as an intern, getting coffee for Chio, of "Chio in the Morning" fame. Speaking of Chio . . .

Chio returned to the Philly fold back in April at Mix 106.1, with Nicole Michalik by his side. But Chio wasn't actually broadcasting from Philadelphia. The former Q102 and Wired 96.5 jock was broadcasting from San Diego, where he also hosts 95.7 KISS-FM's morning show.

Now, Chio's back for real.

As of yesterday, Chio started broadcasting in Philly along with Michalik.

"It's a win-win all the way around," Chio told me. "I got divorced last year, so my kids are here. It's good for my family. I knew I would come back to Philadelphia permanently but it just was based on time.

"It'll improve the show 100 percent. Being here and being in the community, shaking hands, kissing babies! We're like politicians, trying to get the vote."

His co-host agreed.

"Chio moving back to Philly will give us the opportunity to truly embrace the city," Michalik said. "I started out at Q102 as Chio's intern almost 15 years ago, so we have that history, that friendship, in the city where we met."

While Chio said that his boss in San Diego wasn't too thrilled with the move, he had to make it.

"I consider Philadelphia my hometown," Chio said. "I've been on the radio for 17 years, with three different stations. I'm glad to be back."

One of Chio's first stops back in town? Chickie's & Pete's, where he dined with car dealer Gary Barbera.

* We've got a local on the most adorable of reality shows, "MasterChef Junior" Andrew, a recently minted 12-year-old from West Deptford, will compete against 18 other food-loving kiddies in the Gordon Ramsay-hosted challenge. Andrew (whose last name is withheld because he is a minor) says that his signature dish is chicken Milanese with creamed spinach and cucumber peels. "MasterChef Junior" premieres tonight on Fox at 8 p.m.

* Bucks County native and the brains behind Fishtown's The Pickled Heron (2218 Frankford Ave.), Chef Daniela D'Ambrosio, will take on celeb chef Bobby Flay on the Food Network's "Beat Bobby Flay." D'Ambrosio will battle the eager Chef Malcolm Mitchell and Flay in the episode, which airs Thursday at 10 p.m. I'm thinking it's meat-themed, considering the title of the episode is "The New Kids on the Butcher Block."

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