I've got a new version I'll post tonight (can't post from here -- no ftp) that seems to have fixed the problem. Now, only .news has as a position definition at all (it's "absolute") and the div tag declaring it has been moved so it shows up right under the header declaration. All the others are considered part of the normal flow of the document, so I just need to make sure that the .main and the .news columns don't overlap.

The .footer text (the disclaimer and bottom ad) come after .main, so they'll appear underneath it. As long as .main has more content than .news (which it will) then .footer can stretch to 100% of the page without any worries.

Er, anyway. It seems to work now. :)