PITTSBURGH — A school district has reached a settlement with a former student who accused officials of failing to investigate accusations of assaults by a teacher.

The woman said she was a 17-year-old student at Plum Senior High School when Joseph Ruggieri began a sexual relationship with her.

Ruggieri is serving a two- to five-year prison term after pleading guilty last year in Allegheny County to institutional sex assault and corruption of minors.

Court documents indicate that the Plum Borough School District reached a settlement in her lawsuit.

A grand jury last year concluded that administrators turned “a blind eye to obvious signs of teacher misconduct” but didn't recommend criminal charges.

[naviga:h3]Mine rescue date marked[/naviga:h3]

SOMERSET — Robert Pugh said the site where he and eight other miners were rescued after spending more than three days trapped in a flooded mine still gives him “goosebumps.”

But he returned to the Quecreek site for the first time in a decade to take part in Saturday's community celebration 15 years after the July 2002 rescue.

Pugh said he wanted to see “some people who rescued me, a lot of people who prayed for me.”

More than 10,000 people visit the site each year.

Bill Arnold, executive director of the Quecreek Mine Rescue Foundation, said “people aren't willing to let this fade into history.”

[naviga:h3]Hospital burn victim dies[/naviga:h3]

ALLENTOWN — Authorities say a woman critically burned in her hospital room has died of her injuries.

The Lehigh County coroner's office said 66-year-old Val Cooper of Williamsport was pronounced dead shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday at Lehigh Valley Hospital, Cedar Crest. The death was ruled accidental.

Chief Deputy Coroner Andrew Kehm said Cooper died of complications of injuries after her clothing caught fire Tuesday afternoon while she was on supplemental oxygen in a Williamsport hospital.

Nursing staff at UPMC Susquehanna Williamsport Regional Medical Center found her gown ablaze, and a chair she had been sitting was also burning.

Fire officials said the blaze was started accidentally by a cigarette lighter.