SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A follower of Charles Manson who stabbed pregnant actress Sharon Tate to death nearly 40 years ago but is dying of brain cancer in a California prison was denied compassionate release Tuesday.

"Obviously, it was too hot of a potato for them to handle," said one of Atkins's attorneys, Eric P. Lampel. "Of course we're disappointed. There's no basis for denying this."

Lampel filed a motion July 10 with Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Wesley asking for his client's release no matter what the parole board recommended. No hearing has been set, Lampel said after the hearing.

"We're going to be able to make the case in court. We'll take it to the next step," he said after being informed of the board's decision by The Associated Press.

Atkins's doctors and officials at the women's prison in Corona made the request in March because of her deteriorating health. She also has had her left leg amputated and is paralyzed on her right side, her husband, James Whitehouse, told the California Board of Parole Hearings.

Atkins, Manson and two other cult members, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten, were tried for the 1969 cult killings of Tate; Leno and Rosemary La Bianca; and four others. Tate, the wife of filmmaker Roman Polanski, was 8 1/2 months pregnant.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- Hundreds of pounds of household garbage has washed onto Lake Michigan shores in the past couple of days, leading to an investigation by the Coast Guard and the temporary closure of a public beach.

Trash that apparently came ashore overnight Sunday was strewn along a 10-mile stretch in Mason and Manistee counties in Michigan's northwestern Lower Peninsula. Junk piles up to 8 inches high were reported at a beach in the city of Manistee.

Garbage also washed onto private beaches Tuesday in Holland, more than 100 miles south of Manistee. It was not immediately clear whether the two were related, said Lt. Kristie Cabanting, a Coast Guard spokeswoman in Milwaukee.

A helicopter was undertaking flights to try determining where the garbage came from, she said.

The trash in Mason and Manistee counties included medical waste such as prescription drug bottles and hypodermic syringes, authorities said. But most of the garbage consisted of ordinary household rubbish such as candy wrappers, cigarette packages and plastic food utensils, said Matt Fournier, environmental health sanitarian for the local health department.

WASHINGTON -- The District of Columbia Council approved new firearms legislation Tuesday that will allow residents to begin applying for handgun permits this week.

The council's unanimous vote comes as officials try to comply with last month's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the city's 32-year-old ban on handguns.

The emergency legislation will allow handguns to be kept in the home if they are used only for self-defense and carry fewer than 12 rounds of ammunition.

Handguns, as well as other legal firearms such as rifles and shotguns, also must be kept unloaded and disassembled, or equipped with trigger locks -- unless there is a "reasonably perceived threat of immediate harm" in the home.

"This is not perfect legislation," said D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson, who worked with the mayor's office on the bill. "The first step is what we have before us today so that we maintain important provisions in our gun registration law while we continue to look at how we can further refine our gun registration law."

Gun rights groups, including the National Rifle Association, said at least some of the new regulations will likely be challenged.

ATLANTA -- An E. coli outbreak traced to recalled beef in Michigan and Ohio has spawned cases in three other states, U.S. health officials said Tuesday.

New York, Kentucky and Indiana each have one lab-confirmed case of a bacterial infection that matches the 41 previously reported cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The outbreak has been traced to beef sold in Kroger supermarkets in Michigan and Ohio. The Kroger Co. last month recalled ground beef sold in Michigan and Ohio stores, then this month expanded it to include other states. Nebraska Beef Ltd. supplied the meat, ultimately recalling 5.3 million pounds of beef.

LOS ANGELES -- A jury has recommended life in prison without possibility of parole instead of the death penalty for a man convicted of 11 counts of murder for causing a Southern California commuter rail disaster.

Jurors deliberated less than half a day in the penalty phase of Juan Alvarez's trial before returning the verdicts Tuesday.

Prosecutors were seeking the death penalty.

Alvarez parked his sport utility vehicle on railroad tracks in January 2005, causing one Metrolink train to derail and crash into a second train going the other direction. About 180 people were injured in the crash.

The defense contended Alvarez was only trying to kill himself but changed his mind and couldn't get the SUV off the tracks.