Author, author!

Ch. 9’s newest reporter is also a soon-to-be-published author.

Dave Barker, who has officially joined Ch. 9 as a full-time investigative reporter and back-up anchor, has written “The Magic Mesa,” a kid’s book being published by First Books.

“I did kind of what everybody dreams of,” he says. “I was unhappy at being a main anchor [at WXTF in Boston], I got divorced and I took a year-and-a-half off to discover myself.”

During that time, Barker wrote “The Magic Mesa.”

“It’s kind of a spiritual journey for a couple of kids that includes a 400-year-old medicine man,” he says about the book. “They end up on a search for family. I was doing it for a female teenage audience but it’s been testing well with adults.”

Barker began freelancing at Ch. 9 about two months ago but has just been hired as a full-time staffer.

“I worked with [Ch. 9 news director] Will Wright down in Houston,” he says. “Now, I get to fill in for Ernie [Anastos] and Reg [Wells] and join the country’s biggest TV investigative team.

“I’m the happiest reporter on the planet.”

It’s debatable

“People’s Court” Judge Jerry Sheindlin is going public – public access, that is!

Sheindlin will appear on Long Island’s Telecare TV, Ch. 25, to judge the Grand Championship Trophy in the “Telecare High School Debates.”

It takes place tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. in Uniondale.

Eight top Long Island high schools are vying for the trophy, with the winning debater receiving a $5,000 scholarship and the runner-up getting $1,500.

News 12 anchor Carol Silva will host the debate, with New York State Supreme Court Justices John DiNoto and Stephen Bucaria helping in the judging.

Tailor-made novel

Andrew Robinson, who played tailor Elim Garak for seven seasons on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” took his role seriously.

So seriously, in fact, that Robinson has now written “A Stitch In Time” (Pocket Books), the newest addition to the “DSN” paperback series.

The book is written in character, as Elim writes in his journal about the many aspects of his life.

This just in . . .

Jack Rico is Ch. 41’s new morning weather reporter.

Country star Kathy Mattea performs live tomorrow (8:15 a.m.) outside Fox News Channel.