Samuel B and Alchymyth, you are so kind.
I fixed the missing a, but my problem remains. I disabled the calendar widget completely, but the problem continued. (I have feared the problem is related to the calendar widget, an Event Brite Calendar Pro installation that worked briefly as a displayed calendar right in the widget, and then stopped working due to a bug, acc. to the designers.)
So, as I should have done before, here I'll paste in the html in the top text widget:
<a title="Holly Hill Inn" target="_blank" href="http://www.hollyhillinn.com"/><img style="margin: 0pt 0px 2pt 0pt;" src="http://savoringkentucky.com/wordpress/wp-content/gallery/sponsors/ouitatake1001.jpg" alt="Holly Hill Inn, Midway, Kentucky"</a>
<a title="Wallace Station Deli and Bakery" target="_blank" href="http://www.wallacestation.com"/><img style="margin: 0pt 0px 2pt 0pt;" src="http://savoringkentucky.com/wordpress/wp-content/gallery/sponsors/ws-color-logo-pxm.jpg" alt="Wallace Station Deli and Bakery, Versailles, Kentucky"</a>
<a title="Windy Corner Market" target="_blank" href="http://www.windycornermarket.com"/><img style="margin: 0pt 0px 2pt 0pt;" src="http://savoringkentucky.com/wordpress/wp-content/gallery/sponsors/wc-logo-2-1.jpg" alt="Windy Corner Market, Lexington, Kentucky"</a>