• New Orleans, Baltimore, and Dallas were chosen as winners in Boring Co. contest pending feasibility studies.
• The Boring Company may still pursue a utility tunnel project in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

East Tennessee will not get a tunnel from billionaire Elon Musk’s The Boring Company.

Musk’s tunneling company announced which three cities won a “free” one-mile underground tunnel in the “Tunnel Vision Challenge.” Three Tennessee cities were nominated and among the contest finalists: Gatlinburg, Knoxville and Hendersonville.

While no Tennessee town was chosen to get a Tesla Tunnel for transportation, Musk’s company said in a March 24 post on X, formerly Twitter, that it would “try” to burrow a utility tunnel in Hendersonville anyway.

“IN ADDITION, there were multiple other projects that TBC thought were so compelling that we are going to continue to work with the entrants and try to get them built,” The Boring Co. post said.

The announcement comes while Tennessee legislators fight to get more legal authority and clarity over underground transit construction.

Here’s what to know.

Which cities will get a ‘Tesla Tunnel’?

The Boring Co. announced that the “Tunnel Vision Challenge” winners are a NOLA Loop in New Orleans, a Ravens Loop in Baltimore and a University Hills Loop in Dallas.

Despite the contest, New Orleans, Baltimore and Dallas are not guaranteed a loop. Individuals could nominate their community without the consent or knowledge of local government officials, as happened in Knoxville.

The three identified communities will now undergo a diligence process to determine the feasibility of the project. This includes meetings with elected officials, geotechnical borings and utility and subsurface infra investigation, according to The Boring Co.

What is Elon Musk’s tunnel idea?

The Boring Co. is developing tunnels in cities across the United States as a way of mitigating traffic. The privately-owned tunnels are commercialized to allow anyone to ride the direct route in a Tesla for a fee.

HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. — 2 young adults are facing charges for impaired driving and drag racing after a Tennessee State Trooper clocked them going more than 100 mph down I-24 Monday night, an affidavit says.

The affidavit says a THP trooper was on patrol traveling east on I-24 when a black two-door Infiniti and a silver BMW SUV passed him “at well over 100 MPH.”

The trooper attempted to stop both vehicles, but they continued down the roadway.

The affidavit says both vehicles eventually pulled to the right shoulder near Exit 181.

The trooper arrested both drivers, identified as 20-year-old Rolando Martinez and 19-year-old Lucas Turner, for drag racing and reckless driving.

While inventorying the silver BMW, the affidavit says a case of beer was found in the back seat, along with beers strewn throughout the vehicle.

The arrest report says the trooper smelled alcohol coming from both drivers.

Turner consented to standardized field sobriety tests and a blood test. The report says he was above the legal limit of .02.

Martinez completed half of the HGN test and refused further sobriety testing, but consented to a blood test. The trooper also believed he was above the legal limit.

Police officers in the Nashville suburb of Brentwood, Tennessee are currently investigating an alleged assault that occurred over the weekend involving Reacher star Alan Ritchson.

TMZ broke the story by publishing a video that reportedly features Ritchson in an altercation with a neighbor named Ronnie Taylor. The man said that the situation unfolded over two days, beginning on Saturday when he claimed he witnessed Ritchson speeding through the neighborhood on a motorcycle causing a disturbance. To show his displeasure, Taylor claims he raised a middle finger to Ritchson and the actor returned the gesture.

Then on Sunday, Taylor tells TMZ that he spotted Ritchson on his motorcycle again, this time joined by two individuals who are believed to be the actor’s young sons, also on motorbikes. Taylor claims that he asked Ritchson, “Can you fucking stop this please?”, at which point the situation allegedly turned physical. Ritchson is seen in the edited clip hitting Taylor in the grass of a front lawn. Ritchson’s green Kawasaki motorcycle is in the street while the two individuals witness the altercation from their motorbikes.

The clip, first published by TMZ on Sunday, picks up as Taylor is already on the ground. But in an interview with TMZ, he admitted that he instigated the physical confrontation by shoving Ritchson first. He also reportedly ran into the street to confront Ritchson, who then fell off his motorcycle and suffered “cuts and bruises” and a finger injury, per TMZ. The outlet also reported that Taylor “dared Alan to hit him” while Ritchson was still on the ground though the actor tried to leave the scene until he was shoved by Taylor. Additional footage of the incident is said to show a more clear picture of happened.

The Hollywood Reporter confirmed with Brentwood Police Captain Steve Pepin that an investigation is currently underway though “no arrests have been made” in the case. The investigation is expected to continue for several days.

Ritchson, a known motorcycle enthusiast who posed on a Ducati for a THR cover story in 2024, is back in the United States after filming back to back movies in Australia and New Zealand. He starred in Netflix’s War Machine, which just debuted on the streamer, for filmmaker Patrick Hughes. They reunited Down Under for a project inspired by the life of Navy SEAL Mike Thornton which was recently filming.

Reps for Ritchson have yet to comment.

Monday, March 23, 2:43 p.m.: Updated to include new comments from Ronnie Taylor from his live interview with TMZ.