diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 4a7397d..0a37777 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -1,3 +1,17 @@
+1.6.1 (2026-11-06)
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Enhancements
+------------
+
+- Raised the minimum certifi version to 2026.10.18 and the minimum OpenTelemetry semantic conventions version to 0.65b0.
+
+Fixes
+-----
+
+- Require Azure Monitor OpenTelemetry exporter >=1.0.0b58,<2.0.0 to prevent startup failures caused by older exporters importing the removed OpenTelemetry LogData API.
+- Updated Towncrier to 26.9.0 to remove its dependency on the deprecated pkg_resources API. Release drafts read the source version directly and render a single release heading.
+
 1.6.0 (2026-11-03)
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/azureml_inference_server_http/_version.py b/azureml_inference_server_http/_version.py
index 8ccb2c4..fffefab 100644
--- a/azureml_inference_server_http/_version.py
+++ b/azureml_inference_server_http/_version.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 # Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation.
 # Licensed under the MIT License.
 
-__version__ = "1.6.0"
+__version__ = "1.6.1"
diff --git a/changes/README.md b/changes/README.md
index 8603ce6..1b7a88a 100644
--- a/changes/README.md
+++ b/changes/README.md
@@ -12,6 +12,16 @@ the id identifies the Azure DevOps work item or GitHub pull request and ``<categ
 Towncrier reads these fragments, not Git history or existing entries in ``CHANGELOG.rst``.
 For changes awaiting release, add a fragment here instead of editing an ``Unreleased`` section
 in ``CHANGELOG.rst``.
+Each change since the previous release needs a new fragment; changing the version alone
+does not create release notes. Fragments consumed by a previous release are not reused.
+For changes without a work item or pull request number, use a name such as
+``+towncrier.fix.rst``.
+
+Install the project's release tooling with ``python -m pip install ".[dev]"``.
+Use the Towncrier version specified there rather than an older installation that depends on
+the deprecated ``pkg_resources`` API.
+The draft version is read directly from ``azureml_inference_server_http/_version.py``,
+so version edits do not require reinstalling the package.
 
 Run ``python -m towncrier --draft`` from the repository root to preview the next release notes
 without changing files. Run ``python -m towncrier`` when preparing a release to write the notes
diff --git a/changes/_template.rst b/changes/_template.rst
index 7dcac1d..b5be858 100644
--- a/changes/_template.rst
+++ b/changes/_template.rst
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
-{% if top_line %}
-{{ top_line }}
-{{ top_underline * ((top_line)|length)}}
-{% elif versiondata.name %}
+{% if render_title %}
+{% if versiondata.name %}
 {{ versiondata.name }} {{ versiondata.version }} ({{ versiondata.date }})
 {{ top_underline * ((versiondata.name + versiondata.version + versiondata.date)|length + 4)}}
 {% else %}
 {{ versiondata.version }} ({{ versiondata.date }})
 {{ top_underline * ((versiondata.version + versiondata.date)|length + 3)}}
 {% endif %}
+{% endif %}
 {% for section, _ in sections.items() %}
 {% set underline = underlines[0] %}{% if section %}{{section}}
 {{ underline * section|length }}{% set underline = underlines[1] %}
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index ed3ebd3..3947879 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ markers = [
   '''
 
 [tool.towncrier]
-  package = "azureml_inference_server_http"
+  package = "azureml_inference_server_http._version"
   package_dir = ""
   filename = "CHANGELOG.rst"
   directory = "changes/"
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 9103108..5d609e3 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ def get_license():
             "pytest-benchmark",
             "pytest-cov",
             "requests",
-            "towncrier==21.9.0",
+            "towncrier==26.9.0",
             "wheel",
         ]
     },