5 Things to Know in Montana for Aug. 1

Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today.

PRAIRIE RESERVE GROWS TO 300K ACRES:

A private conservation reserve on north-central Montana's open prairie now spans more than 300,000 acres with the addition of a large parcel south of Malta. American Prairie Reserve manager James Barnett says the group's recent purchase of the 22,000-acre ranch in Phillips County marks an important step in the reserve's goal to piece together more than 3 million acres of public and private lands.

ELECTIONS OFFICE TO OPEN IN BROWNING:

Montana Secretary of State Linda McCulloch says a satellite voting office will open on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation for late voter registration and in-person absentee voting. The announcement means satellite offices will open on at least four Montana reservations in time for the Nov. 4 election. McCulloch says preliminary talks have begun for offices on other reservations, as well.

BODY FOUND NEAR HARDIN IDENTIFIED:

The Big Horn County coroner has identified a body found north of Hardin to be that of 61-year-old Maynard Kenneth Hill of St. Xavier. Coroner Terry Bullis says the official cause of death has not been determined, but it appears that Hill drowned. Hill's body was found Sunday by a ranch hand on a river rock bed about 17 miles north of Hardin

MAN ACCUSED OF ACCIDENTALLY SHOOTING GIRLFRIEND:

Yellowstone County authorities say they arrested a 27-year-old Lockwood man after he accidentally shot his girlfriend while swinging a handgun. Christopher Ryan Gross faces a felony criminal endangerment charge after deputies found Gross' girlfriend with a bullet hole in her chin Wednesday night. Charging documents say she suffered extensive injuries and the bullet appeared to travel down her spine.

ATTORNEY SUSPENDED FOR WITHHOLDING INFORMATION:

A Billings attorney faces a 10-month suspension for withholding information from a judge in an adoption case and hampering investigations into his conduct in two other cases. The Montana Supreme Court filed orders last week that Roy W. Johnson Jr. be suspended practicing law for three months for the adoption case and for another seven months for failing to turn over requested documents in two other cases. The suspensions begin Sept. 1.