my solution is neither elegant nor automated... I made a new .tpl and called it mm_news.tpl
I simply hardcoded my news items...
Code:
<strong>21-Nov-2006</strong><br />
<strong> NEWS ITEM 1</strong>
<a href="http://www.link.com/link" target="_blank">link name</a> NEWS ITEM 1... NEWS ITEM 1... NEWS ITEM 1... NEWS ITEM 1... <br /><br />
<strong>08-Nov-2006</strong><br />
<strong>NEWS ITEM 2</strong>
<a href="http://www.link.org/link" target="_blank">NEWS ITEM 2 NEWS ITEM 2 NEWS ITEM 2 NEWS ITEM 2 NEWS ITEM 2 <br /><br />
{if $usertype eq "C"}
<a href="news.php" class="SmallNote">{$lng.lbl_previous_news}</a>
{/if}
and then in news.tpl, replaced {include file="today_news.tpl"} with the new file.
This is brute force, but my news items are EXACTLY what I want. Links exactly what I require.