Maybe we can just nix the Background borders.
And Move the Ask Question into the navigation, Since they will be fixing other parts of the design as well...
Notice that a line was added in-front of "Ask Question" that looks like a divider meant for the top bar:
Here is a version of the background without the lines,
Do you think it had anything to do with adding the bar for new users? Makes the extra space look even worse.
And finally what it looks like without the background lines: