A police spokeswoman in Aspen, Colo., says Charlie Sheen has posted bond and was released from jail hours after he was arrested in an alleged domestic violence case.

Stephanie Dasaro says Sheen posted $8,500 bond yesterday after speaking with a county judge and was advised on the conditions of his release.

Officers arrested the 44-year-old actor yesterday morning after responding to a 911 call from a house in the ski resort town. Sheen was taken into custody for investigation of second-degree assault and menacing, both felonies, along with criminal mischief, a misdemeanor.

Dasaro would not name the accuser, citing a department policy prohibiting the identification of potential victims in domestic violence cases.

Sheen's publicist Stan Rosenfield released a statement saying, "It would benefit everyone not to jump to any conclusion."

'IDOL' RETURNS WITH ELLEN

"American Idol" will return next month with a two-night, four-hour premiere featuring auditions in Boston and Atlanta, the Fox network says.

The Boston auditions will air Jan. 12 and the Atlanta auditions will air Jan. 13, the network announced. Auditions for the ninth season of the popular singing competition will also be held in Chicago; Orlando, Fla.; Dallas; Los Angeles; and Denver.

This year's big change: Ellen DeGeneres is replacing Paula Abdul as judge. DeGeneres will join the show in February after the tryout rounds, Fox says.

Guest judges joining Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi include Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige, Kristin Chenoweth, Neil Patrick Harris, Joe Jonas, Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry and Shania Twain.

GUITARIST IN JOPLIN'S BAND DIES AT 69

James Gurley, the guitarist who helped shape psychedelic rock's sounds as a member of Big Brother and the Holding Company, the band that propelled Janis Joplin to fame, has died of a heart attack. He was 69.

Gurley was pronounced dead Sunday at a Palm Springs, Calif., hospital, two days before his 70th birthday. One of many guitarists to emerge from San Francisco's psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s, Gurley was hailed by many as the original innovator of the sound.

OLDEST WOMAN RECEIVES TRADITIONAL CANE

A Massachusetts woman who helped revive the tradition of giving a cane from the Boston Post newspaper to her town's oldest resident is its latest recipient.

Hazel Burdick turned 101 in August. She received the gold-tipped cane this week in Williamstown, a rural community of about 8,000 residents.

The publisher of the now-defunct Boston Post gave hundreds of the canes in 1909 to towns in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It was a publicity gimmick. Williamstown revived its tradition 10 years ago.