Courtesy of Jillian Manuel

Rainbow ribbons, messages, flowers and cut-out hearts were left near the site in Portland, Tex., where a couple found Mollie Judith Olgin, 19, and Mary Kristene Chapa, 18, after they were shot.

Friends and family of two teenage girls in a same-sex relationship who were shot in the head in a South Texas park expressed shock and grief Tuesday over the incident in which one of the young women was killed and the other severely injured.

Mollie Judith Olgin, 19, and Mary Kristene Chapa, 18, were found in knee-deep grass in a nature area in Portland by a couple Saturday morning, said Portland Police Chief Randy Wright, who confirmed to msnbc.com details first reported by the Corpus Christi Caller Times.

Rainbow ribbons, goodbye messages, flowers and cut-out hearts were posted around the site where they were found. On Friday, a candlelight vigil and walk will be held for Chapa and Olgin.

“It’s something that I think all of us are going to carry with us for a while,” Frank Reyna, a friend of both girls, told msnbc.com. “It’s going to take a while to get past this, the idea that there is somebody still out there that did this to these two amazing, beautiful people, and that they’re walking free right now.”

Olgin, originally from Ingleside but recently living in Corpus Christi, died; Chapa, of Sinton, was rushed to an area hospital where she was in stable condition, Wright said Tuesday in a statement.

Wright said police had recovered a bullet casing from a large-caliber gun at the scene -- leading investigators to believe the shootings occurred where the pair was found -- but they haven’t found the weapon. Two witnesses said they heard what could have been gunshots or firecrackers just before midnight last Friday but did not report it, he said.

“If we had a name, you know, we’d be having a different conversation right now. But we have not been able to gather enough information to identify a suspect yet,” Wright told msnbc.com on Monday. “It appears as if … this was not just a random attack but that’s something that we really have to develop over time.”

Courtesy of Jillian Manuel

A makeshift memorial was set up near the site in Portland, Tex., where a couple found Mollie Judith Olgin, 19, and Mary Kristene Chapa, 18, after they were shot last week.

A motive had not been established, he said in the statement.

"Information from family and friends indicates that Mollie and Mary were engaged in a same-sex relationship. However, there is no current evidence to indicate the attacks were motivated by that relationship," he said.

Teen lesbian couple found shot in Texas park

Chandler Nunez, who noted that Olgin was one of her best friends in high school, said she was in shock.

“ … I cannot imagine anyone who would want to hurt such a loving and caring person,” she wrote to msnbc.com. “This was incredibly unexpected and the lack of answers makes this tragedy all the more frustrating.”

Friends said the pair had been together since mid-February.

Reyna, a 19-year-old university student, said he grew up with Chapa, and met Olgin his sophomore year of high school. He described Chapa as an athlete who played softball, and said Olgin, a student at a nearby university, was focused on academics but also was a big joker. He last saw them together at a local coffee shop in May, which was the first time he saw them out as a couple.

“I’m glad that that was the last time that I saw Mollie in person, that that’s the memory that I can live with for the rest of my life, knowing that I saw her happy,” he said.

The couple’s relationship “was a readily accepted thing,” he added, and was not what their friends focused on.

“We focused on their personalities and how they got along with everybody else … their kindheartedness and their ability to just make other people smile and make each other smile,” he said. “We didn’t care … what they were, it’s who they were.”

Wright said Monday that all indications were that “third parties” were involved in the assault. Because of her medical condition, Chapa has not been formally interviewed about what happened, he said.

The park, more of a nature area with some parts overgrown and no lights, was often frequented by visitors during the day, but not at night. It is located along a bluff overlooking a bay, Wright said, with some homes situated nearby.

“We’re not really sure how they got to the point that they were found,” he said. “It is a scenic overlook with a wooden deck and there is a place at the edge of the deck where you can actually go down a very steep incline into a grassy area that leads down to the shoreline, and that’s where they were found.”

The crime rate is low in Portland, north of Corpus Christi on the Gulf of Mexico, Wright said. The last homicide occurred two years ago.

Courtesy of Kristen Veit

Charlene Camp, Hilary Avila, Myracle Taylor, Bailey Sanders, Jillian Manuel, Tim Robinson (behind Manuel), Kristen Veit, LuAnn Garza, Valerie Tanon and Franceska Hiracheta were some of the couple's friends and well-wishers who created a memorial at the site around where the young women were found in Portland, Tex., last week after they were shot.

While people in the South Texas community prepare for their memorial service, another candlelight vigil for the pair has been organized by Cleve Jones, a gay civil rights activist who conceived the AIDS Memorial Quilt, for Wednesday evening in San Francisco. On Facebook, people noted they would hold vigils in other cities, too.

"You were taken too soon," Megan Olgin, who identified herself as Olgin’s sister on Facebook, wrote in a post. "I love you and always will. You're my guardian angel. I love you little sister. Forever and always ♥"

Editor's note: The Portland Police had initially spelled Chapa's name as Christine, though her friends spelled it Kristene. The police department's latest press release Tuesday evening has changed the spelling to Kristene.

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Marion County Sheriff via AP

Krystle Marie Reyes, 25, is accused of tax evasion, theft, computer crime and methamphetamine possession.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- An Oregon woman was charged Wednesday with duping the state into giving her a $2.1 million tax refund that allowed her to go on a short-lived spending spree — an alleged scam that has prompted embarrassed state revenue officials to review how they process tax returns.

Krystle Reyes, 25, of Salem, filed an electronic return in January via Turbo Tax, reporting erroneous earnings of $3 million, authorities said. Her request for a $2.1 million refund was initially red-flagged by an automated system, but a subsequent manual review by Oregon revenue department workers OK'd the refund. Turbo Tax then loaded the full amount onto a debit card for Reyes.

Authorities say she spent $150,000 of the funds before reporting the card lost or stolen, at which point the ruse was discovered. The state has recovered roughly $1.9 million of the funds.

Reyes was arrested June 6, and now faces eight felony charges. In addition to tax evasion and theft charges, she is accused of computer crime and methamphetamine possession. She is scheduled to be arraigned on July 5.

Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Reyes, who is no longer in custody, have been unsuccessful and it was not clear if she has an attorney. Officials also have not released the allegedly falsified tax return because of confidentiality laws pertaining to tax matters.

Andrew Campbell, a senior assistant attorney general who filed the charges, has not responded to AP's requests for interviews.

A list of what Reyes purchased during the spending spree has not been provided, but police said video surveillance showed her swiping the debit card at various stores in the Salem area. Despite being a millionaire for a few months, Reyes paid $2,000 cash to buy a 1999 Dodge Caravan, the vehicle she had been seen driving in the month before her arrest.

'Human error'
The Revenue Department, which processes $7 billion in tax returns, is understaffed because of budget cuts and has an old computer system. But agency spokesman Derrick Gasperini said neither of those issues was to blame for what he described as a "human error."

The agency plans to release more details about its apparent blunder in the coming days, and how it plans to prevent a recurrence. There has been no evidence linking Reyes to anyone inside the agency, but officials want to make sure its internal controls limit the possibility of collusion.

"Catching this one, we all are concerned — here at the agency as well as the public — about 'is this part of a larger scheme, and who's involved in that larger scheme and does it involve anyone inside our walls?" Gasperini said.

State Sen. Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, the chairwoman of the Senate Revenue and Finance Committee, has said she plans to hold a hearing on the matter this summer.

"I'm not on a witch hunt, but I'm just very, very concerned that something this flagrant could have gotten through the process," she said. "We need to understand why it happened and what is going to be done differently."

State Rep. Vicki Berger, R-Salem, co-chair of the House Revenue Committee, told the Oregonian when Reyes was arrested that the revenue department "had some explaining to do."

"Is this is an anomaly? If so, let's make sure it never happens again," she said. "Or do we have a systematic problem in the way the Department of Revenue treats this and other transactions?"

Following the arrest, the agency reexamined the returns of 108 people who received a refund of at least $50,000 during the current processing season, and no new instances of fraud were uncovered.

According to the Oregonian, the state reported $559 million in delinquent taxes in 2010, primarily from unpaid personal and corporate income taxes.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Isaac Lamb may have just won the award for best-ever marriage proposal. (Or perhaps the award for most-viewed proposal.)

On Wednesday, Lamb, 31, asked his girlfriend Amy Frankel to meet him at his parents’ home for dinner. On arrival, Lamb's brother asked Frankel, 33, to sit in the open back of a Honda and to put on headphones -- he said he wanted to play her a song.

As the song, “Marry You,” by Bruno Mars started playing, friends and family emerged to perform in an elaborately planned lip-dub dance.

As the song plays, Frankel is clearly delighted and surprised, letting out small shrieks of joy as each new group of dancers joins in. By the end of the five-minute video, more than 60 dancers are in the frame. As for what happens next, well, you’ll have to watch the video, which had 1.5 million views on YouTube by Sunday afternoon.

Even Bruno Mars weighed in, tweeting: "Congrats to Isaac Lamb and the future Mrs. I don't think I could've made a better music video for this song. Thank you."

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Updated at 5:30 p.m. ET: The mother of three children found abandoned in a shed in Portland, Ore., on Thursday has been located, police said Friday.

"We thank everyone who helped with information," the department said in a statement. "We do not need any additional tips.  There will be no more details released about this case as it is still under investigation."

The oldest of the kids, a boy, is approximately 3 years old. A girl, about 2, and an infant girl, believed to be somewhere between 8 and 15 months, were found with the boy Thursday morning, authorities said.

Around 9:30 a.m., a man called 911 to report hearing children's voices from a shed behind his house in Southeast Portland.

The shed was on the property of a vacant residence, police said in a statement.

Officers said there were homeless people "on the premises" who told them the children were abandoned there the night before by a woman they believed to be their mother.

The Department of Human Services took them into protective custody and gave them medical evaluations.

A resident on the street where the kids were discovered said she had noticed strangers walking across from her home on Thursday morning, where the empty shed is.

"We have a real homeless problem in our neighborhood, so I keep an eye across the street," Judy Baxter, a homeowner on Southeast Rhine Street, told oregonlive.com.

She said she saw a man and a woman walk into the backyard of a vacant house on Thursday morning, so she called the property owner to suggest he report them. Soon after, police arrived.

Baxter told oregonlive.com that officials led the kids out of the shed through pouring rain; the toddlers held the hands of state welfare workers, while a police officer carried the infant out.

The kids were wearing coats and had backpacks, she said. Authorities who responded to the scene gave them stuffed animals, she told oregonlive.com.

Jennifer Estus, who lives next to the vacant property, told oregonlive.com that homeless people often sleep in the driveway behind the home.

Police said the two older children weigh 28 pounds, and the infant is 15 pounds. All three have olive skin, dark hair and brown eyes.

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This undated photo provided by the Portland Police Department shows Nathan Bihlmaier, 31, of Cambridge, Mass.

Updated at 5 p.m. ET: A Harvard Business School student whose body was found in a harbor near a Portland, Maine, pub where he was last seen drinking died from accidental drowning, the state medical examiner's office said Wednesday.

Nathan Bihlmaier, 31, had been celebrating his impending graduation with friends at the waterfront pub Saturday night before he disappeared, according to NBC affiliate WHDH.com.

He was visibly intoxicated and had been asked to leave the bar, WHDH.com reported. He called friends a short time later, and then was never heard from again.

“He was asked to leave [Rí Rá's Irish Pub and Restaurant] about 12:20 in the morning for having a little bit too much to drink. At that point he left the bar very cooperative, there were no altercations,” Portland's police chief, Michael Sauschuck, said.

Police are unsure how Bihlmaier wound up in the water and are hoping surveillance video will shed some light on the matter.

Bihlmaier, a native of Osborne, Kan., and a University of Kansas graduate, leaves behind a wife pregnant with their first child. He was scheduled to graduate from Harvard Business School on Thursday.

Follow Jason White on Twitter

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An Oregon man has been arrested and charged in connection with mailing more than 100 letters containing white powder to members of Congress and news organizations in recent weeks, the FBI said Friday night.

The man, Christopher Lee Colson, 39, of the Portland are, is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in federal court. A grand jury in Portland on Friday indicted Carlson on one count of mailing a threatening communication to a member of Congress and one count of mailing a letter threatening to use a biological weapon to a U.S. senator.

The powder in all of the letters, which were still showing up at offices in Washington as recently as Thursday, has tested negative for toxic substances, the FBI said. But Greg Fowler, the FBI's special agent in charge in Oregon, said, "Threatening letters — whether hoax or real — are serious concerns that federal law enforcement agencies will aggressively pursue."

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John Brecher / msnbc.com

Mustafa Elogbi and his lawyer address media and supporters at Portland International Airport on Monday. six weeks after he was stranded abroad by opaque U.S. security procedures.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Mustafa Elogbi is by nature a private person. But when he finally arrived home after a frightening ordeal with U.S. security officials that cost him six weeks and thousands of dollars, he chose the spotlight.

Elogbi is seeking publicity and threatening legal action against the government for what he says was virtual exile by the U.S. government despite concerns about how the publicity might affect his family.

"I worry about my kids -- there are a lot of good people, but there are some who could try to harm them," the 60-year-old Libyan-American said Monday after clearing Customs at Portland International Airport. "But I think we really didn’t have any other choice."

On Jan. 4, after visiting family and friends in Libya, Elogbi headed home from Tunis, Tunisia, to the United States, where he is a citizen and resident of 33 years. But when his flight landed at London’s Heathrow Airport, he was detained and questioned by security officials who he says told him they were acting on behalf of Washington.

They told him he would not be able to board a flight to the United States, and instead locked him up in solitary confinement at a British detention center for two days, then placed him on a flight back to Tunis.

Elogbi was shaken and humiliated. His wife, Annie Petrossian, contacted a Portland lawyer immediately, but Elogbi was at first leery of confronting the government.

But his options were limited. Because he was apparently on the U.S. secret "no-fly" list, he could not board any flight to the United States or Canada, which also enforces the list.

The Terrorism Screening Center, operated by the FBI, as a matter of policy, will not confirm nor deny the inclusion of a given person on the no-fly list. About 500 U.S. citizens are on the list, said a representative at the TSC, who asked not to be named. The total number of names on the list -– which includes "known or suspected terrorists" stands at about 21,000.

John Brecher / msnbc.com

Mustafa thanks Muna Qadan, 8, for the home-made greeting card she gave him as he arrived at the airport. Watching are Mustafa's daughter, Alaa, and her friend Maryam Qadan.

The Council on American Islamic Relations says it regularly fields calls from Americans –- mostly Muslims -- who are prevented from boarding and believe they are on the no-fly list. Less than half of those who contact the organization pursue legal action, and fewer still seek publicity, according to CAIR staff attorney Gadeir Abbas. He says this is especially true if they are within the United States, and can take a car or train home.

Previous coverage from msnbc.com

• American aid worker: US bars my return
• What gives? Another American caught in no-fly limbo
• No-fly Americans split up to fly home
• Bittersweet homecoming for Libyan-American caught in no-fly limbo

"Part of the reason people don’t share that they are on the no fly list … (is that) being on the list could have implications for their relationships or standing in the community," said Abbas. "It is a public declaration that the government for whatever reason is suspicious of you."

A few American citizens who have been prevented from boarding flights have made their way back to the United States by boat, train and car. And Abbas said some give up.

"There are definitely folks who were abroad, found themselves on the no-fly list and never returned,” said Abbas. "If the U.S. is impeding your travel back to the U.S …. it’s just a small jump to speculate about what could happen to you when you return."

But Elogbi said he never considered staying away.

"I lived here for 33 years. Basically I’m an American guy," he said. "This is my home. They cannot chase us out of this country. It’s not going to make me run away from the United States."

With the help of two attorneys, and his wife’s persistent calls to U.S. agencies and her senator, Elogbi ultimately was allowed to fly home. He was required to fly on a U.S. carrier, on an itinerary approved by the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, which was communicating about the case with Washington.

He did not submit to questioning by an FBI agent who contacted him in Tunis, he said, because he wanted a lawyer present. When he did fly, he did so with his Portland lawyer, Tom Nelson, who had escorted another client, Jamal Tarhuni, back from Tunis a week earlier.

Upon arrival, Elogbi was taken aside at U.S. Customs for questioning – and Nelson was not allowed to be present, the two said. Border authorities confiscated Elogbi’s cell phone and told him to retrieve it later this week at the Portland FBI field office.

The FBI and the State Department have repeatedly declined to comment on the cases, citing privacy concerns.

There are currently two major legal challenges to the Justice Department over its no-fly list.

This could become a third, according to Nelson, who has at least one more no-fly client overseas. He has also been seeking assistance from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who is the chair of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, and the press.

"I want to put a spotlight on these people (in the security apparatus," said Nelson. "They want to put a spotlight on me or on us  -- that’s fine. Bring it on. But let’s play by the rules here, let’s play by the Constitution that they are sworn to uphold."

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Dick Harris, Portland Fire & Rescue.

A Portland, Ore., man died in an early morning blaze at 1307 NE 111th. Firefighters say they had difficulty finding the victim because there was so much clutter in the home.

A Portland, Ore., man died in an early morning blaze after firefighters had trouble reaching him because his home was filled with clutter and hoarded items, an official said.

“There was so much stuff in the house, it was difficult to find the back bedroom and the bed” where the victim was discovered, Portland Fire Bureau spokesman Paul Corah told msnbc.com.

When firefighters finally reached the man, they “took him off the bed, and more stuff fell on him,” Corah said.

The exact cause of death hasn’t been determined but the victim was identified by NBC station KGW as Thomas Owen, 67.  The cause of the fire is still under investigation. 

Corah said the fire marks the second this week in Portland in which firefighters have been hindered in their ability to navigate inside a burning home because of excessive clutter.  No one was injured in that Tuesday blaze, according to the fire department.

“It’s dangerous for firefighters to go inside these houses,” he said. “It’s a big issue.”

Firefighters, already challenged by heavy smoke and heat, can’t rely on typical strategies to conduct a search and rescue in such circumstances.

"I feel what should be a desk or a couch or a wall, and it's a pile of garbage," firefighter Chris Fukai told KGW. "Makes it an uncomfortable search, because the typical landmarks aren't there."

A person with compulsive hoarding typically collects and keeps a lot of items, even things that appear useless, according to the International OCD Foundation, a not-for-profit support organization for people with obsessive compulsive disorder and related problems. The problem of hoarding is believed to affect between 6 million and 15 million Americans.

Corah said he wants to raise awareness of the issue so that people can get help, before the excessive clutter becomes a fire hazard.

“We’re seeing hoarding happen in all areas of the city,” he said. When asked why the problem has become more apparent, Corah said: “We’re all struggling with that question.”

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Jim Seida / msnbc.com

Occupy Seattle protestors block traffic as they march along SW Spokane St. in Seattle, Wash. on their way to the Port of Seattle Monday. Occupy activists worked to shut down ports all along the west coast Monday.

Updated at 11:45 p.m. ET:

In Seattle, Wash., police used "flash bang" percussion grenades to disperse Occupy protesters at Port of Seattle after the crowd effectively shut down one of the terminals on Monday and then started to block off a second terminal.

An estimated 700 protesters in Seattle formed a blockade at the port after marching from the retail area of the city.  

The protest first targeted terminal 18, operated by SSA Marine, in an effort to cut into profits of Goldman Sachs, which is a stakeholder in the large cargo-terminal operator. Goldman is the fifth largest U.S. bank by assets.

Protesters formed picket lines at the entrances, and built a make-shift barricade using plywood, sections of scaffolding, oil drums and shipping pallets, reported msnbc.com’s Jim Seida.

Police told KING TV that demonstrators blocked vehicular traffic and began throwing flares, bags of bricks and paint, rebar and other debris at officers at the scene. At least one officer was injured after being struck in the face by a bag of paint, KING TV reported. Eleven demonstrators were arrested. The official Occupy Seattle Twitter feed also said that police were using pepper spray.

The goal was to keep people out of the facility, while allowing people to leave, he said. One longshoreman who did enter the port said he was sympathetic with the protesters, but couldn’t afford not to work.

Occupy Seattle activist Joshua Farris said that a lot of truckers were held up in snarled traffic caused by the protesters, but that many honked and waved in support. He said he counted more than 80 police, and at least 3 arrests. Farris said the longshoremen were told they would not be paid.

Occupy Seattle activists were keeping in touch with their counterparts in other ports, and prepared to respond if the authorities cracked down at any of these protest sites.

“We were told that if another city was attacked, we would do a more aggressive occupation,” said Farris. "We would take more actions and be more disruptive.”

Updated at 5:55 p.m. ET:

Some 20 activists in solidarity with Occupy groups along the West Coast were taken into custody near the Port of Houston, KPRC TV reported.

Updated at 3:05 p.m. ET:

• In Oakland, Calif., shipping companies and the longshoremen's union agreed to send home about 150 workers, essentially halting operations at two terminals.
• In Longview, Wash., workers were sent home out of concerns for their "health and safety."
   

Updated at 2:50 p.m. ET:

17 Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing in downtown New York City, a police spokeswoman tells msnbc.com. The protesters were targeting Goldman Sachs, which has stakes in some port facilities and which Occupy says has been trying to undermine trucker and longshoremen's unions.

Updated at 12:20 p.m. ET:

• Oakland, Calif.: Tractor-trailers en route into the facility, the nation's fourth busiest container port by volume, were backed up and idle at one entrance where protesters formed a picket line in front of police. Two longshoremen who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity outside the gate said they would refuse to cross picket lines to get to their jobs and assumed others would follow suit.
• Long Beach, Calif.: Activists scuffled in the rain with helmeted police officers who shoved them with batons in an effort to keep the entryway clear. At least one protester was taken away in handcuffs after the skirmish, and demonstrators later left the area to block traffic along a main thoroughfare through the port. But as rains grew heavier and police converged in force threatening arrests, protesters began to disperse on their own.
• Portland, Ore.: Motorcycle police confronted some 200 demonstrators who tried to disrupt traffic outside a terminal there. Officers later stood aside and let protesters march to the terminal entrance. The port said two of its four terminals were closed for the day due to security reasons and that 200 workers were told not to show on Monday.

Original story published at 10:30 a.m. ET: Occupy Wall Street activists along the West Coast on Monday took their protest to major ports from California to Alaska, hoping to disrupt trade and, symbolically at least, show that they can reduce corporate profits.

In Portland, Ore., police made two arrests and seized a gun and sword from people who said they were on the way to the Occupy march there. An Occupy Portland spokesman said the men were not part of the group.

Some 200 activists later marched on a maritime terminal, facing off against police on motorcycles and bikes.

In Oakland, Calif., around 1,000 people began picketing at the Port of Oakland before dawn, blocking some trucks from going inside.

"Whose streets? Our streets. Whose ports? Our ports!" were among the chants marched down streets to the port, where they were met by police in riot gear. No clashes or arrests were reported.

Protesters then formed a picket line in front of police to block the entrance.

In Long Beach, Calif., up to 400 activists gathered at a park and planned to march on the Port of Long Beach -- and particularly a dock facility whose owners include Goldman Sachs.

Efforts to shutdown multiple ports simultaneously could prove difficult because some of the facilities are in massive complexes with numerous entrances that would be hard to fully block, even if protesters turn out in large numbers.

Activists aligned with the Occupy movement did briefly succeed in shuttering maritime operations at Oakland, the nation's fourth busiest container port by volume, for several hours on Nov. 2 after police there kept their distance.

Oakland, long an Occupy hot spot, was expected again to be center stage on Monday in a day of protest seen as a test of the movement's momentum.

"The objective of the day is to shut down the port through mass action," said Mike King, a graduate student who acts as a media liaison for Occupy Oakland. "The Occupy movement is attacking the 1 percent at their point of profit."

Portland affiliate KGW.com coverage 
NBCBayArea.com coverage 
NBCLosAngeles.com coverage
Seattle affiliate KING5.com coverage

Among those expected to take part in the port protests was Scott Olsen, a U.S. Marine veteran critically wounded in October clashes with police in Oakland in an incident that gave fresh impetus to the Occupy movement.

Mike Blake / Reuters

Members of Occupy San Diego block a worker from driving to the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal on Monday.

"Scott's decision to demonstrate so soon following a serious injury is symbolic of the Occupy movement's resilience following a series of nationwide, coordinated crackdowns against the 99 percent," Iraq Veterans Against the War said in a statement announcing Olsen would take part.

The Port of Oakland has mounted a public relations campaign to dissuade protesters from joining the effort, while two of the largest labor unions involved have split -- with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union opposed to the blockade and Teamsters taking a neutral stance.

But union workers were largely expected to stay on the job, and were contractually barred from joining such a strike. The protest will focus in part on truck drivers who earn low wages and cannot join unions because they are classified as independent, and must provide their own trucks.

"It's a group that encapsulates basically everything that is wrong with society," King said.

Kimberly White / Getty Images

Protesters attempt to block an entrance to the port in Oakland, Calif., on Monday.

Among the companies at which protesters directed their ire was SSA Marine, which loads and unloads cargo ships. Organizers said they planned to target its terminal at the combined ports of Los Angeles-Long Beach, which together handle 40 percent of the nation's waterborne imports.

"They are independent contractors," SSA Marine spokesman Bob Watters said of the nonunion drivers. Truckers provide their own vehicles and the lease agreements are day by day, he said, allowing them to work for many companies.

Oakland port spokesman Isaac Kos-Read said the issue of independent truckers was being adjudicated in court, and that the port was working with unions and its tenants to improve the environmental impact of trucking.

Msnbc.com's Miranda Leitsinger, Kari Huus and Jim Seida, as well as Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Los Angeles police officers process two arrested Occupy LA protesters near City Hall after a deadline to dismantle their encampment passed on Wednesday.

Major police actions have cleared Occupy movement encampments in New York, Portland, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, leaving protesters in other cities preparing for the same. Among the next likely targets are camps in Seattle, Boston and San Francisco.

For some 100-150 Occupy Seattle protesters living on the grounds of Seattle Central Community College, eviction was ordered on Nov. 23, but action was temporarily barred by a restraining order. A judge is slated to rule on the case Friday afternoon — after which the camp could become fair game.

College administrators have voiced support for the camp and First Amendment rights but on Nov. 23 called for an emergency change of state administrative rules to bar camping, citing “deteriorating conditions” in the camp.

Protesters argue that the problems administrators and others are pointing to are preexisting conditions — homelessness, mental illness and poverty — that have been ignored. “We are dealing with people who have been thrown under the bus — people who have addictions, they are out on the street,” says Joshua Farris, an organizer. “We’re saying these drug problems, this crime, these people who we are helping were here before we even came here … We’re saying our presence is making a positive impact. They are saying it's negative.”

The protesters are talking with neighborhood churches to create a backup plan in the event of eviction.

If the ban on camping is upheld, the eviction could be effective by the end of business Friday, said college spokesperson Patricia Paquette. But she emphasized that community college chancellor Jill Wakefield is committed to a civilized outcome.

“Seattle is well-known for coming up with innovative solutions,” Wakefield said. “My hope is that we would be able to provide a model of cooperation to move the campground to a location that is safer and more appropriate.”

In San Francisco, members of the Occupy movement who have staked out territory in Justin Herman Plaza had faced a noon deadline to clear out. It was the latest of the “final” orders to vacate, which have been ignored by the demonstrators.

Protesters met to consider an alternative site offered by the city, but the meeting ended inconclusively, according to a report by the Mercury News. As of noon, according to the report, no one at the encampment of about 150 appeared ready to leave.

Meanwhile in Boston, a judge ruled Thursday that protesters may stay in their encampment in Dewey Square until she issues a decision on or before Dec. 15, Bloomberg reports. There is a restraining order in place to prevent eviction of 100-150 protesters despite warnings that the combination of crowding, flammable tarps and cigarettes presented a safety hazard that one fire official compared to napalm.

In Portland, some Occupy demonstrators were planning to march through the city Saturday and occupy another unspecified park. The Occupy Portland folks were cleared from encampments at Chapman and Lownsdale Square parks on Nov. 13.

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