Fox News correspondent Kris Gutierrez is joining WBBM, the CBS O&O in Chicago, as a morning anchor, the station announced today.

Gutierrez will co-anchor the 4:30-7 a.m. newscast alongside Susan Carlson beginning March 12.

“Kris has an incredible depth of news experience — on a local and national level — and I am thrilled to welcome him to our morning news team,” WBBM vice president and news director Jeff Kiernan said in a statement. “He will bring a new energy and fresh perspective to our early morning news show and I’m confident viewers will enjoy his broadcast style.” Read more

Steve Bartelstein, a veteran anchor in major markets like New York and Chicago, has been suddenly released from his contract after 10 months at WBBM.

Bartelstein’s last day on the Chicago CBS O&O was Friday, according to Time Out Chicago‘s Robert Feder. His bio was removed from the station’s website over the weekend after his final morning broadcast with co-anchor Susan Carlson on Friday.

Bartelstein’s departure from WBBM is the latest in a long string of dramatic exits from different stations. In 2007, he was fired from New York’s WABC after sleeping through a newscast he was slated to anchor.

Six months later, he landed at WCBS in New York. While at WCBS, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and continued as a weekend anchor throughout his treatment and recovery. He abruptly quit in 2009 after claiming that WCBS accidentally mailed his paycheck, which he needed to pay his medical expenses, to his home, instead of leaving it at the station for him to pick up as he normally did.

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Chicago’s WBBM has launched an “American Idol”-style contest to find its new morning traffic reporter. The CBS O&O is now accepting applications online at TrafficTryouts.com for a spot on the station’s morning newscast.

Applicants are asked to submit a 30-second YouTube video in which they state why they feel they are best suited for the position. WBBM is accepting applications through March 31st.

Station management will narrow the applicants down to a field of 75 that will be invited in for an on-camera audition. From there, the talent pool will be cut down to the top 10 contestants and WBBM will open up the contest to viewers’ votes online.

The winning contestant will get a chance to work alongside the station’s morning team of anchors Steve Bartelstein and Susan Carlson and meteorologist Megan Glaros. In addition to a spot on the early morning newscast, the winner will get a 3-month, $25,000 contract and the chance to eventually sign a 1-year, $100,000 deal.