Drought grips southern states, parches ground, withers crops

ATLANTA - Authorities say extreme drought conditions are persisting in parts of Alabama and Georgia, wilting crops and raising the specter of wildfires.Thursday's U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly report that tracks drought conditions nationwide, showed the worst of the drought in Alabama's northeast corner, in northwest Georgia and across a swath of land mostly south and southeast of Atlanta.In northwest Georgia, hard-hit by some of region's driest conditions, the report said crops have withered.I