Columns and text wrap

I’m a little behind the times. I am fairly proficient in ID CS4 but just got a job with a company using CS5.5. I’m editing a newsletter laid out by a former employee. I have a page with a text frame set up in three columns, which is a feature entirely new to me. There are two photos with captions. One in the upper right covers 1.5 columns and the other covers two full columns at the lower right.

On the image that covers 1.5 columns, I grouped the photo and its caption and applied a text wrap. So the middle column flows around the image and the right column begins beneath the image. The problem is that the first line of text in the right column doesn’t line up with the first full line tin the middle column. I mean, they are waaaaaay off. Looks awful! Nothing I’ve tried will make these lines of text line up.

Second, I can’t seem to control where the columns break. Before I started messing with it, the columns all broke in appropriate places. Now, the left column is breaking about six lines too early, leaving a huge gap of white space at the bottom. The middle and right columns end above the second placed image.

I searched and searched online for a solution, but everything I find either covers text wrap OR text frames with columns . . . not both! Would appreciate any help.