Government funding was cut off this summer when the County Council voted to prohibit county funds or donations from supporting the program.

One of the first Indiana counties to implement a syringe exchange is now the first in the state to effectively shut its program down.

The Madison County Council last week tabled a $15,000 request from the county health department to fund the program.

The grants announced Wednesday include $300,000 each for Indianapolis, Bloomington and Connersville.

County commissioners voted unanimously Saturday to authorize paying a ransom, but they haven't voted yet on making such a payment.

The Hancock Madison Shelby Educational Services cooperative, which this year served about 2,500 students in five school corporations, will close at the end of the 2016-17 school year.

Madison County public health coordinator Stephanie Grimes says the number of intravenous drug users taking part in the county's needle-exchange has doubled each month since October.

Indiana State Police will now lead an investigation into the disappearance of more than $5,000 in cash from Anderson Police Department's Drug Task Force office.

Health officials earlier reported cases in Huntington County near Fort Wayne and central Indiana's Madison County.

The needle-exchange program will start next Wednesday and rotate between four sites in hopes of reducing the spread of hepatitis C among IV drug users.