My car died. I replaced the battery. Car died again. I replaced the alternator. Car died again. Got battery re-charged. Car died again. mechanic found a short in the trunk (trunk light) which was causing the drain on my battery.

NOW... my CL stays charged and is running, but the A/C-climate control area of my dash is blacked-out. Mechanic can't figure out how to fix. Fuses check out ok. Acura says there is no reset for this. Someone mentioned a light bulb, but it's digital! Is that right?
Has this ever happened to anyone and what was the fix?
$600 in the hole, broke, and desperate.

 

Since your broke and sound desperate. what you could try is to remove your dash find the wires that connect to the climate control and test them to be sure that there is a positive current going to the climate unit

Downside to this is it wont definately solve your problem and taking the whole dash out will be a bitch

 

It may be a light bulb. When I first got my CL the digital clock would not light up. It finally bothered me enough that I took apart my dash and I found the burnt out bulb. The one for the clock has a flat plastic back and it twists out. I'm sure it is probably the same one, or very similar, for the A/C display. I will warn you though, in my opinion, CL dashes can be a big pain to remove compared to others that I've dealt with. And the area you need is not very easy to access with out removing a lot of screws, clips, etc.