diff --git a/foodie_engagement_tweet.py b/foodie_engagement_tweet.py
index 8baf2d9..af98fc9 100644
--- a/foodie_engagement_tweet.py
+++ b/foodie_engagement_tweet.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import fcntl
 import os
 import time
 import re
+import unicodedata
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
 import tweepy
 from openai import OpenAI
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@ MAX_RETRIES = 3
 RETRY_BACKOFF = 2
 URL = "https://insiderfoodie.com"
 URL_SHORTENED_LENGTH = 23  # Twitter's shortened URL length
+CURRENT_YEAR = "2025"  # Explicitly set the current year for the prompt
 
 def setup_logging():
     """Initialize logging with pruning of old logs."""
@@ -113,6 +115,7 @@ try:
         logging.error(f"Invalid format in {AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS_FILE}: Expected a list, got {type(background_list)}")
         raise ValueError("Author backgrounds must be a list")
     AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS = {}
+    AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS_LIST = background_list  # Keep the original list for fallback lookup
     for bg in background_list:
         if "username" not in bg:
             logging.error(f"Invalid entry in {AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS_FILE}: Missing 'username' key in {bg}")
@@ -121,13 +124,16 @@ try:
         if not isinstance(username, str):
             logging.error(f"Invalid username type in {AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS_FILE}: {username} (type: {type(username)})")
             raise ValueError("Username must be a string")
-        cleaned_username = username.strip().lower()
+        # Normalize the username to handle encoding differences
+        cleaned_username = unicodedata.normalize('NFC', username.strip().lower())
         AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS[cleaned_username] = bg
+        logging.debug(f"Added to AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS: key='{cleaned_username}', value={bg}")
     loaded_usernames = list(AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS.keys())
     logging.debug(f"Loaded author backgrounds: {loaded_usernames}")
 except Exception as e:
     logging.error(f"Failed to load author_backgrounds.json: {e}", exc_info=True)
     AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS = {}
+    AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS_LIST = []
     sys.exit(1)
 
 def validate_twitter_credentials(author):
@@ -158,8 +164,8 @@ def validate_twitter_credentials(author):
     return False
 
 def remove_emojis(text):
-    """Remove emojis from the given text."""
-    # Unicode ranges for emojis
+    """Remove emojis from the given text, including variation selectors."""
+    # Unicode ranges for emojis, including variation selectors and combining characters
     emoji_pattern = re.compile(
         "["
         "\U0001F600-\U0001F64F"  # Emoticons
@@ -173,6 +179,9 @@ def remove_emojis(text):
         "\U0001FA70-\U0001FAFF"  # Symbols and Pictographs Extended-A
         "\U00002700-\U000027BF"  # Dingbats
         "\U00002600-\U000026FF"  # Miscellaneous Symbols
+        "\U0000FE00-\U0000FE0F"  # Variation Selectors
+        "\U0000200D"             # Zero Width Joiner
+        "\U0000200C"             # Zero Width Non-Joiner
         "]+",
         flags=re.UNICODE
     )
@@ -212,8 +221,9 @@ def generate_engagement_tweet(author):
     persona = author["persona"]
     persona_config = PERSONA_CONFIGS.get(persona, PERSONA_CONFIGS["Visionary Editor"])
     
-    # Lookup background using a dictionary
-    username_cleaned = username.strip().lower()
+    # Normalize and lookup background
+    username_cleaned = unicodedata.normalize('NFC', username.strip().lower())
+    logging.debug(f"Looking up background for username: raw='{username}', cleaned='{username_cleaned}'")
     background = AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS.get(username_cleaned, {})
     
     # Debug comparison
@@ -222,7 +232,7 @@ def generate_engagement_tweet(author):
         logging.debug(f"Direct key check: '{username_cleaned}' found in AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS keys")
     else:
         logging.debug(f"Direct key check: '{username_cleaned}' NOT found in AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS keys")
-        # Log byte-level comparison for the first available username as a sample
+        # Byte-level comparison for the first available username
         if available_usernames:
             sample_key = available_usernames[0]
             logging.debug(
@@ -231,6 +241,25 @@ def generate_engagement_tweet(author):
                 f"sample background key bytes = {list(sample_key.encode('utf-8'))}"
             )
     
+    # Fallback lookup if dictionary fails
+    if not background:
+        logging.debug(f"Dictionary lookup failed for '{username_cleaned}', attempting fallback lookup")
+        for bg in AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS_LIST:
+            bg_username = bg.get("username", "")
+            if not isinstance(bg_username, str):
+                logging.warning(f"Skipping background entry with non-string username: {bg_username} (type: {type(bg_username)})")
+                continue
+            bg_username_cleaned = unicodedata.normalize('NFC', bg_username.strip().lower())
+            logging.debug(
+                f"Fallback comparison: "
+                f"author username (cleaned) = '{username_cleaned}', "
+                f"background username (cleaned) = '{bg_username_cleaned}'"
+            )
+            if bg_username_cleaned == username_cleaned:
+                background = bg
+                logging.debug(f"Fallback lookup succeeded for '{username_cleaned}'")
+                break
+    
     if not background or "engagement_themes" not in background:
         logging.warning(
             f"No background or engagement themes found for {username}. "
@@ -249,6 +278,7 @@ def generate_engagement_tweet(author):
     prompt = (
         f"{base_prompt}\n\n"
         f"Generate an engagement tweet for {author_handle} asking a question about {theme} to engage the public. "
+        f"The current year is {CURRENT_YEAR}, and all references to the year should use {CURRENT_YEAR}. "
         f"Keep it under 230 characters to ensure room for the URL. "
         f"Use {persona_config['tone']}. "
         f"Include a call to action to follow {author_handle} or like the tweet, followed by the URL {URL} (do not mention InsiderFoodie.com separately in the text). "