Help w/ Featured Category, Recent Posts modification (Fresh Ink Magazine theme)

blog: http://myafricanplan.com

I’m new to wp and still learning.

1) There doesn’t seem to be a Featured Category on this theme where I can select such a category i.e. “Featured” and have a given post (whether the newest post or not) featured at the top of my homepage. I’m interested in a Featured Category that does not involve installing a plugin that may not fit the design of the theme. It seems like there might be a way to get a Featured Category of blog posts showcased as the first few posts on my blog without a plugin -OR- with a plugin that fits this theme design. More so, can I have the power to decide which blog posts show up on my homepage/Featured Category and which posts just show up in other categories e.g. International Law (but not on homepage/Featured Category). Thoughts?

2) In the Appearance > Widgets for this theme, there’s a widget for “Recent Posts”. I currently have it on my blog but the titles of the posts run together and it’s somewhat difficult to differentiate the full title of one post from the next listed post. For example, it shows up like:
“Best Women are from Africa

Scholarship

Intellectual Capital

Management”

And it seems like
“Best Women are from Africa Scholarship
Intellectual Capital Management”
would be a better format.

I wonder if there’s a way to modify how the titles appear in the Recent Posts. I tried the style.css and index.php of the theme and could not pinpoint the exact format settings for the Recent Post widget. Thoughts?