I've got a few entries for quests I've completed but where the objectives still remain. "Return to XXX for reward" appears twice, "Help the people of XXX" a few of those. I know it's not that important, but when I highlight MISC, I really want to see active tasks, not 15 lines of useless objectives.

Nope, unfortunately there's not.

Yup there sure is.

Finish the quests.

Problem?

Reread my original post ... the quest are finished, the objectives still remain. In particular, Skald never seems happy.

yes the quest is bugged so it cant be done/ finish to hand in to hand in the quest

You'll just have to wait for a patch. Unless you're on the PC and someone will create their own fix for you to use.

Try using the console to finish the quests. Quest ids can be found on uesp.net.

That Skald thing is a common bug. You just have to live with it like the rest of us, im afraid.