A long-running battle between the U.S. Forest Service and a Republican congressman who set a runaway fire that damaged federal land has been settled, with a $4,747 hole burned in the lawmaker's pocket. That's the amount Rep. Henry E. Brown Jr. (R-S.C.) paid the agency on April 20 to cover the cost of suppressing the March 5, 2004, blaze that jumped from his property to the adjacent Francis Marion National Forest, charring 20 acres. Brown previously had paid a $250 fine. The payment extinguished a four-year dispute marked by allegations of political pressure, a failed counterclaim by Brown and threats...