Writer HTML gives extra space

I am pasting as HTML conditionally formatted data from a Calc file into a two-column Writer document (used as a template) for printing, direct or to a PDF. Each time I paste, there is an extra line before the actual first line (row) of data. I’ve looked at all the settings I can find with no success. I’ve reviewed as many previously posted solutions as I could find, but none of the suggestions worked. It is possible to delete the extra line each time, but it’s easy to miss until after the printing is done.
Has there been any progress made on this issue? I’m using version 5.3.6.1
Thanks in advance,
Joe C