Although well-intentioned (I hope), the actual functionality of PD9 often drives editors nuts.
Make frequent use of the UNDO button, and lock tracks as needed, then unlock, link and unlink, group and ungroup (degroup?). What does group do again?
Keep your UNDO button at the ready at all times! I can't quite put my finger on what is wrong with the programming logic, but it DOES work, but we have to work harder to use it. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
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What I like to do is place a blank track above Track 1, so that when I need to delete items from the project and not make anything move, I simply drag the unwanted clips up into the blank track and then delete. In other words, if I have an hour movie going, and need to simply shorten a title track half way through, I don't delete anything from my main movie track, because that shifts the main track, but nothing else.. even linking all tracks seems to mess up too. I just move the title track to the blank track, shorten it up, and then move it back down.

Yes, having a "dummy" track is very useful. Move files to the "dummy" for adjusting or removal, then put them back where you want them. This works, however, it feels like a workaround, and you should not need to utilize a workarond so often that it becomes part of the normal action of editing. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
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>> however, it feels like a workaround, and you should not need to utilize a workarond so often that it becomes part of the normal action of editing.

You took the words right out of my mouth. I will report this as a bug to tech support. In the meantime the workaround/circumvention can come in handy in a pinch, even thought I'd prefer the issue not to exist.

P.S. Ctrl+Z (undo) is my most use key in PD9.

You can try to tell them, but they already know. There are numerous threads here dedicated to this subject.
Senior members, as well as Newbies have gone over this LOUD AND CLEAR to Tech.
Many of us expect 1 last patch, but we are not privy to that info.
The next patch should address the Smartsound problems, as well as the timeline functionality, and the PIP troubles.
Those are the 3 biggies for me. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT

The workaround in this scenario is my normal mode of editing. I don't see another option. What's the other option?

There is no real other option, the "dummy" track is the best way to edit. It's just that it doesn't feel right, and forces additional steps. But it does work. Just keep the UNDO at the ready, I never used it so much before 9. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT