diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index f9ab2df7dd12cc12cf08f718cd42dc045eba2fa4..a1732e281b12b8b629f353c1adb25d8fad66d482 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ You also agree to abide by our
 4.  When editing lesson pages, you need only commit changes to the Markdown source files.
 
 5.  If you're looking for things to work on,
-    please see [the list of issues for this repository][lesson-example-issues]
+    please see [the list of issues for this repository][issues]
     or for [the template][lesson-template-issues],
     or have a look at [our actual lessons][swc-lessons].
     Comments on issues and reviews of pull requests are equally welcome.
@@ -39,15 +39,9 @@ You also agree to abide by our
 
 2.  For a list of helpful commands run `make` in this directory.
 
-3.  The [list of maintainers][swc-maintainers]
-    on the [Software Carpentry website][swc-website]
-    lists the people currently responsible for managing this repository.
-    Feel free to contact them if you have any questions or languishing pull requests.
-
 [conduct]: CONDUCT.md
+[issues]: https://github.com/swcarpentry/lesson-example/issues
 [lesson-template-issues]: https://github.com/swcarpentry/lesson-template/issues
 [license]: LICENSE.md
 [pro-git-chapter]: http://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/GitHub-Contributing-to-a-Project
 [swc-lessons]: http://software-carpentry.org/lessons.html
-[swc-maintainers]: http://software-carpentry.org/lessons.html#maintainers
-[swc-website]: http://software-carpentry.org
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4b4d9402f878271f3c0d1541e746510f101a1ff4..742d54b29d2e5b97e0fcb451fdc5f219bab4e96c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -246,6 +246,12 @@ You can also [mail us](mailto:admin@software-carpentry.org) with questions or pr
 Please also [mail us](mailto:admin@software-carpentry.org)
 whenever you create a new lesson and would like to advertise it on our web site.
 
+## Maintainers
+
+*   Andy Boughton (@abought)
+*   Rémi Emonet (@twitwi)
+*   Raniere Silva (@r-gaia-cs)
+
 [swc]: http://software-carpentry.org
 [swc-lesson-template]: https://github.com/swcarpentry/lesson-template
 [swc-lessons-page]: http://software-carpentry.org/lessons.html
diff --git a/tools/check.py b/tools/check.py
index 538459089c88986b70c722f31b99622a8f5d977d..abf17ad4916f1ac2eec21be4c02fd328486e1a46 100755
--- a/tools/check.py
+++ b/tools/check.py
@@ -671,7 +671,8 @@ LESSON_TEMPLATES = {"index": (IndexPageValidator, "^index"),
                     "discussion": (DiscussionPageValidator, "^discussion")}
 
 # List of files in the lesson directory that should not be validated at all
-SKIP_FILES = ("DESIGN.md", "FAQ.md", "LAYOUT.md", "README.md")
+SKIP_FILES = ("CONDUCT.md", "CONTRIBUTING.md",
+              "DESIGN.md", "FAQ.md", "LAYOUT.md", "README.md")
 
 
 def identify_template(filepath):
@@ -737,7 +738,9 @@ def validate_folder(path, template=None):
 
 def start_logging(level=logging.INFO):
     """Initialize logging and print messages to console."""
-    logging.basicConfig(stream=sys.stdout, level=level)
+    logging.basicConfig(stream=sys.stdout,
+                        level=level,
+                        format="%(levelname)s: %(message)s")
 
 
 def command_line():
@@ -763,6 +766,8 @@ def command_line():
 def check_required_files(dir_to_validate):
     """Check if required files exists."""
     REQUIRED_FILES = ["01-*.md",
+                      "CONDUCT.md",
+                      "CONTRIBUTING.md",
                       "discussion.md",
                       "index.md",
                       "instructors.md",
diff --git a/tools/chunk-options.R b/tools/chunk-options.R
index 4856ca82f626bf912a7db71266a60a9dcc379a77..0411805a40e08232c6039a88c85dbd42675dc8cb 100644
--- a/tools/chunk-options.R
+++ b/tools/chunk-options.R
@@ -23,4 +23,4 @@ hook_out <- function(x, options) {
 }
 
 knit_hooks$set(source = hook_in, output = hook_out, warning = hook_out,
-               error = hook_out, message = hook_out)
\ No newline at end of file
+               error = hook_out, message = hook_out)
diff --git a/tools/validation_helpers.py b/tools/validation_helpers.py
index ed383c1ad0dfda9da1ec78113a02e8534fd515fe..b6d9982feb49c5f7d415f32666f8aa55493142c1 100644
--- a/tools/validation_helpers.py
+++ b/tools/validation_helpers.py
@@ -239,4 +239,4 @@ class CommonMarkHelper(object):
         else:
             has_heading = False
 
-        return self.is_block(ast_node) and has_heading
\ No newline at end of file
+        return self.is_block(ast_node) and has_heading