For the better part of a year, our investigative reporter, Kevin Wack, has been working on a story about people who drive with suspended licenses in Maine.

Along the way Kevin battled state officials over access to public information; crunched thousands and thousands of numbers; visited jails; rode with police officers; conducted hundreds of interviews on the phone and in person; written and rewritten countless drafts; and dealt with cranky editors.

On Sunday, the world gets to see the fruits of his labor. That’s when the first part of Kevin’s three-part series – “Danger behind the wheel: Suspended drivers on Maine roads” – will be published. Parts 2 and 3 will follow on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

In addition to Kevin’s stories, there are some fantastic web-only videos, slide shows and graphics produced by online producer Suzi Piker, photographer Gregory Rec and graphic artist Jeff Woodbury.

So what does the series say? You’ll have to read it. I’m not giving it away.

It’s not easy to do investigative journalism. The work is complicated. The hours are endless. The process of writing, editing, rewriting and re-editing stories can be frustrating. We take it seriously and we’re proud of our newspaper’s commitment to this vital work.

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