diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index eb10bbe3..b4b822ad 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ common: &common
         when: on_fail
     - restore_cache:
         keys:
-          - cache-{{ .Environment.CIRCLE_JOB }}-{{ checksum "setup.py" }}-{{ checksum "tox.ini" }}
+          - cache-v1-{{ arch }}-{{ .Environment.CIRCLE_JOB }}-{{ checksum "setup.py" }}-{{ checksum "tox.ini" }}
     - run:
         name: install dependencies
         command: pip install --user tox
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ common: &common
           - ~/.cache/pip
           - ~/.local
           - ./eggs
-        key: cache-{{ .Environment.CIRCLE_JOB }}-{{ checksum "setup.py" }}-{{ checksum "tox.ini" }}
+        key: cache-v1-{{ arch }}-{{ .Environment.CIRCLE_JOB }}-{{ checksum "setup.py" }}-{{ checksum "tox.ini" }}
 
 jobs:
   docs:
diff --git a/.project-template/fill_template_vars.py b/.project-template/fill_template_vars.py
index bbbe2f7f..52ceb02b 100644
--- a/.project-template/fill_template_vars.py
+++ b/.project-template/fill_template_vars.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 
 def _find_files(project_root):
-    path_exclude_pattern = r"\.git($|\/)|venv|_build|\.tox"
+    path_exclude_pattern = r"\.git($|\/)|venv|_build"
     file_exclude_pattern = r"fill_template_vars\.py|\.swp$"
     filepaths = []
     for dir_path, _dir_names, file_names in os.walk(project_root):
@@ -22,11 +22,14 @@ def _find_files(project_root):
 def _replace(pattern, replacement, project_root):
     print(f"Replacing values: {pattern}")
     for file in _find_files(project_root):
-        with open(file) as f:
-            content = f.read()
-        content = re.sub(pattern, replacement, content)
-        with open(file, "w") as f:
-            f.write(content)
+        try:
+            with open(file) as f:
+                content = f.read()
+            content = re.sub(pattern, replacement, content)
+            with open(file, "w") as f:
+                f.write(content)
+        except UnicodeDecodeError:
+            pass
 
 
 def main():
diff --git a/LICENSE b/LICENSE
index 17bc694e..b76b24d4 100644
--- a/LICENSE
+++ b/LICENSE
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 The MIT License (MIT)
 
-Copyright (c) 2020 The Ethereum Foundation
+Copyright (c) 2019-2023 The Ethereum Foundation
 
 Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
 of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a3bc2c7c..86b1e410 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 # <PROJECT_NAME>
 
+[![Join the conversation on Discord](https://img.shields.io/discord/809793915578089484?color=blue&label=chat&logo=discord&logoColor=white)](https://discord.gg/GHryRvPB84)
 [![Build Status](https://circleci.com/gh/ethereum/<REPO_NAME>.svg?style=shield)](https://circleci.com/gh/ethereum/<REPO_NAME>)
 [![PyPI version](https://badge.fury.io/py/<PYPI_NAME>.svg)](https://badge.fury.io/py/<PYPI_NAME>)
 [![Python versions](https://img.shields.io/pypi/pyversions/<PYPI_NAME>.svg)](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/<PYPI_NAME>)
-[![Docs build](https://readthedocs.org/projects/<RTD_NAME>/badge/?version=latest)](http://<RTD_NAME>.readthedocs.io/en/latest/?badge=latest)
+[![Docs build](https://readthedocs.org/projects/<RTD_NAME>/badge/?version=latest)](https://<RTD_NAME>.readthedocs.io/en/latest/?badge=latest)
    
 
 <SHORT_DESCRIPTION>
diff --git a/docs/_static/.suppress-sphinx-build-warning b/docs/_static/.suppress-sphinx-build-warning
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29b..00000000
diff --git a/newsfragments/validate_files.py b/newsfragments/validate_files.py
index 684c7987..c4bd29f6 100755
--- a/newsfragments/validate_files.py
+++ b/newsfragments/validate_files.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 # Towncrier silently ignores files that do not match the expected ending.
 # We use this script to ensure we catch these as errors in CI.
 
-import os
 import pathlib
 import sys
 
diff --git a/pytest.ini b/pytest.ini
index ae90934f..95a6b2d6 100644
--- a/pytest.ini
+++ b/pytest.ini
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 [pytest]
-addopts= -v --showlocals --durations 10
+addopts= -v --showlocals --durations 10 
 xfail_strict=true
+log_format = %(levelname)8s  %(asctime)s  %(filename)20s  %(message)s
+log_date_format = %m-%d %H:%M:%S
+timeout = 300
 
 [pytest-watch]
 runner= pytest --failed-first --maxfail=1 --no-success-flaky-report
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index a18d9bc4..c359d0be 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -11,11 +11,11 @@
         "pytest-xdist>=2.4.0",
     ],
     "lint": [
-        "flake8==6.0.0",
-        "flake8-bugbear==23.3.23",
+        "flake8==6.0.0",  # flake8 claims semver but adds new warnings at minor releases, leave it pinned.
+        "flake8-bugbear==23.3.23",  # flake8-bugbear does not follow semver, leave it pinned.
         "isort>=5.10.1",
-        "mypy==0.971",
-        "pydocstyle>=5.0.0",
+        "mypy==0.971",  # mypy does not follow semver, leave it pinned.
+        "pydocstyle>=6.0.0",
         "black>=22",
     ],
     "doc": [
diff --git a/tests/core/conftest.py b/tests/core/conftest.py
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29b..00000000
diff --git a/tests/core/test_import.py b/tests/core/test_import.py
index f146ae79..07b2a18e 100644
--- a/tests/core/test_import.py
+++ b/tests/core/test_import.py
@@ -1,4 +1,2 @@
-
-
 def test_import():
     import <MODULE_NAME>  # noqa: F401