You can change them to real whole rests, and hide them.

found it: Staff tool  double click desired staff   Staff attribute box appears   Deselect Display rests in empty measures     click ok

It's not permanent though. Not sure why finale puts rests in empty measures as a default.

P.S. I got an email with a comment but I don't see it here. Thanks anyway...

The default whole rest adheres to notational standards. It is not a "real" rest as this whole rest appears regardless of time signature. It is permanent in the sense that when "not displayed" the program does not generate it on the staff (and vice versa). If you want to hide real rests (i.e. rests in the context of time signatures), select the rest and hit "h" on the keyboard; that should make it invisible.

>>  P.S. I got an email with a comment but I don't see it here. Thanks anyway...

As part of its spam protection, some messages are delayed for approval but apparently go through the e-mail notification system without delay. It's sometimes irritating (makes it look like one poster is just parroting another), but there is a reason for it.

How do I put the number 1 over a whole bar rest? The default is nothing.

Document Options > Multimeasure Rests > Start Numbers at: 1 Measures

DAVID SPRUNG:

On a Mac it is Document Options - Multimeasure Rests - Start At Number (Set at 2 by default)

Simon