To help you figure things out, there is a Scoop Admin Guide which can hopefully answer most of your questions.
Some tips:
Most of the layout is changed in "Blocks", found in the admin tools menu
Features can be turned on and off, and configured, in "Site Controls" in the admin tools menu
Stories have an "edit" link right beside the "Full Story" link on an index page, and right beside the "Post a Comment" link on the full story page. They can also be edited by clicking the story title in the "Story List" admin tool
Boxes are what allow you to write new features for Scoop; they require a knowledge of the perl programming language to work with effectively, although you can often make small changes without knowing much perl. If you would like a feature added but cannot program it yourself, ScoopHost does custom Scoop programming as one of its services.
If you aren't sure where to look for a particular feature or piece of display, try the "Search Admin Tools" link in the admin tools menu.
I don't know if anyone noticed this, but back on Saturday, Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich met at a Texas Tea Party Patriots PAC fundraiser ($150 to $200 per plate, I'm told) for a debate conducted in the spirit and style of the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates. And before we go to the debate itself, let's first hear from Julie Turner, the president of the Texas Patriots PAC:
Kim Jorns is the current Executive Director of the Michigan Republican Party. Earlier this week I received a couple of e-mails from her with regard to this event: