1
Just to finish this topic so that others can use this tip here's what I did in the news_item.html template file:
/** I use IF statements to sort out my topics */
<{if $story.topic_title|strip_tags:false == "TOPIC I DON'T WANT TO MODIFY"}>
<{elseif $story.topic_title|strip_tags:false == "TOPIC TO MODIFY"}>
<span class="itemPostDate"><b>Effective Until
/** I use $story.expired to pull the date from the section, then format it for manipulation */
/** If NO expiration date was set, the default value will end in "1969" */
<{if $story.expired|truncate:4:"" == "1969"}> Further Notice
<{else}>
/** By this time we know there is an expiration date, now lets format and output it to the template */
<{$story.expired|date_format:"%A, %B %e %Y"}></b>
<{/if}>
</span>
<{/if}>
