Kansas City Royals in Limbo Time is running out for the Kansas City Royals. Will the Boys in Blue make it to the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade? Or are those high hopes about to be dashed after an excruciating 7-game losing streak? It’s a make-it-or-break-it week for the team. Only six games remain in the season and all of them are out on the road. The Royals are off today. They begin a three-game road series against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night. The Royals close out the season in Atlanta on Sunday. Kansas City Royals’ mascot Sluggerrr waves the flag before the start of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins in Kansas City, Missouri, Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018. (Reed Hoffmann | Associated Press) Death Penalty Back in the News This week, Missouri is set to carry out its third execution of the year. Barring intervention from Gov. Mike Parson or the courts, Marcellus Williams will be put to death by lethal injection on Tuesday at the maximum-security prison in Bonne Terre. Williams, 55, was found guilty in the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle in St. Louis County. Several national groups, including the NAACP, have called on the governor to stop the execution, arguing Williams was denied a fair trial and that Black jurors were excluded from hearing the case. Missouri now ranks just behind Texas and Alabama as the nation’s leading death penalty state. Court Hearing in Irish Chef Murder Case An update this week in the Shaun Brady murder case. Two teens charged in the fatal shooting of the popular Irish chef outside of his Brookside restaurant will appear in court on Wednesday. As they are both juveniles, few details have been provided. But it’s known that the teens have been in protective custody since the August 28 shooting in the back parking lot of Brady & Fox. Handmaid’s Tale Author in KC The author of “The Handmaid’s Tale” will be in town this week to mark the 150th anniversary of the Kansas City Public Library. Margaret Atwood wrote the dystopian novel, that has since been turned into a popular TV series. The library is expecting its largest crowd ever for a literary event. She was scheduled to appear at the downtown library, but because of high demand, the event has been moved to a larger venue. Atwood will now speak at Unity Temple on the Plaza on Tuesday night. The event is at capacity. KC Welcomes Dionne Warwick and Itzhak Perlman Some other big names will be heading into Kansas City this week. Grammy award-winning music icon Dionne Warwick performs with the Kansas City Symphony on Saturday. And famed violinist Itzhak Perlman takes the stage at the Kauffman Center on Sunday. Last Week, Reviewed Kelce’s Acting Debut Travis Kelce makes his acting debut this week as he appears in a new cable TV crime series. The Kansas City Chiefs tight-end stars in the FX drama Grotesquerie, which follows a detective investigating grisly and grotesque murders. Kelce’s role in the show is being kept a secret. Grotesquerie premieres on FX on Wednesday at 9 p.m. Jayhawks at Arrowhead Arrowhead Stadium has a new temporary tenant this week, the KU Jayhawks. The University of Kansas Football team has been forced to find new places to play as renovations continue at its stadium in Lawrence. KU will play four home games at Arrowhead, starting this Saturday against TCU. The game won’t conflict with the Chiefs. They’re in Los Angeles this weekend for a Sunday afternoon matchup against the Chargers. The U.S. flag is carried onto the field at Arrowhead Stadium in September 2023 in Kansas City. The KU Football Team will be playing at Arrowhead while construction goes on at their stadium. (Jamie Squire | Getty Images) Big Weekend of NASCAR Racing It’s a big week for auto racing fans. The Kansas Speedway only hosts two NASCAR races a year, and this weekend is one of them. The sports’ top drivers will be in Kansas City to compete in the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sunday. It’s the second race in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Fall Festival Season It’s finally fall, and this weekend features a bumper crop of fall festivals. Overland Park Fall Festival | Sept. 27-28 Festival food, live music, farmers’ market and kids’ activities in downtown Overland Park. Liberty Fall Festival | Sept. 27-29 Two hundred local artists and vendors, live entertainment, carnival and car show. Louisburg Ciderfest | Sept. 28-29 See how apples are pressed into cider and sample cider donuts and other fall treats. 18th & Vine Arts Festival | Sept. 27-29 A Three-Day Celebration of Black Art, Music, Food and Fashion in the historic 18th & Vine Jazz District. Nick Haines tracks the week’s most impactful, confusing and downright head scratching local news stories on Week in Review, Friday nights at 7:30 p.m. on Kansas City PBS. The post Kelce’s Acting Debut, Fall Festival Takeover and More first appeared on Flatland.