Layout Question

I have a page layout that has three columns. Let’s call them left, middle, and right. The middle column displays the normal entries of the blogger. The right column displays the normal WordPress sidebar. In the left column I’m wanting to display more of a permenant listing type of blog. I was thinking I could have a different catagory called “News” that would be displayed in the left side column. I’ve only been using WordPress for a few days now. Is this possible? If so, what would be the best way to do this?