I think for your problem there is much easier solution : Front Page Category plugin ;)

You can put query_posts($query_string.'&cat=9'); before get_template_part('script'); in index.php (in themes folder) to show the preferd category, but it only shows the title. So I think you should look for the loop in script.php

yup youll need to exclude the category from the loop in the index.php

http://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop

-Chris K

I'm wondering if there's a way to exclude markers from a specific category from showing on the home page?

I don't mind getting my hands a bit dirty in the code, just not sure where to look. If someone could point me in the right direction, it would be most appreciated.