Custom Feature Blocks & Integration with Stories

Hello,

I am relatively new to Drupal but I have enjoyed learning as I go.  I am also not a PHP ninja, so please bear with me on my questions.

The site I am currently developing is very much like a newspaper.  You have a front page with your headlines and featured stories, then you have section fronts, like business, sports, entertainment, and so on.  Each of these section fronts will also have their own featured stories.

The Publisher theme has Features 1, 2, 3, & 4 by default and all of these apply to the home page.  When you are publishing a story, you have the option of featuring that story in one of the 4 featured areas by selecting it on the ‘edit story’ page.  Then your story should show up in the appropriate feature on the home page.

My question has to do with creating custom features for the Publisher theme.  I know that using CCK and other tools I can create my own feature blocks.  But…

1) How do I make these blocks show up as features blocks on the edit story page?  How do I enable the story photo, title and teaser text to port to one of these new features just like it does in for the pre-existing features? 

2) Is there a way to change the name of the default Publisher featured blocks from “Feature 1” to something like “Home Page Large Teaser” to avoid confusion?

3) I need to create featured blocks that apply only to a particular section front and not the home page.  What is the best way to disseminate this in the Publisher theme?

I would appreciate any hints or help.

Thank you very much for your time.