O.K.
I think that I may have crossed information from two separate versions of the Sample Flex Viewer or misdiagnosed/complicated the issue. There was a flaw in my logic and research that revealed itself last night. I now see that ViewerContainer.dispatchEvent(new AppEvent(AppEvent.WIDGET_CHANGE_STATE, {id: this.widgetId, state:WidgetStates.WIDGET_CLOSED})); does close the widget, at least to the extent I need for my program. I really had a different problem and some testing and research indicated the design I was implementing was flawed from the get go. A quick redesign has me back on track. Thanks for bearing with me.
Tyler