Limit Frontpage Post Size

My current wordpress site I’m editing is mtwp.net/bluestreaknews As you can see, all the posts on the front page are displayed in full length. At my test site where I uploaded the demo version of the same theme, arvinwebdesign.com/hilitewebsite , all the posts on the front page are limited somehow to a set number of characters, and it is all in neat blocks. Any way to do this? Thanks.