Hi Jb.
For 1st issue, yes it happens only on the first page. All subsequent pages except the first page are okay. Attaching screen to show the gap between report title (contained in Header) and section label. 
And for 2nd one, just realized that the solid line is made up of cells from all columns. As I uncheck the 'Break footer' it goes away. I looked at the table borders and that does not seem to be issue here. Any other ideas?
Thanks for helping out!