First off, thanks for posting back so quickly! You all are the best!
Second, I didn’t move up the sidebar for no reason. I have to apologize here, as my original post may not have been incomplete. Check this image out for some clarity:
The design calls for a sidebar that appears to sit underneath some trim that runs along the page header bar. I have added a transparent trim to the CodePen so you can see its dimensions.
http://codepen.io/ksefchik/pen/VeJoeM
Basically, what I need is for the sidebar to BOTH sit underneath that top-trim AND extend to the bottom of the page.
Finally, to answer I had the pointer events code in there from before when I was troubleshooting some z-index issues. I’ve removed it from the pen as it wasn’t necessary.