Watsonville’s Register-Pajaronian, which has been a daily since 1940, will switch to a thrice-weekly format (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) beginning Feb. 3, the paper announced in this morning’s edition.

The 6,000-circulation paper said the move was forced by the closure of two major advertisers, Mervyns and Circuit City. “Additionally, the disclosure by Gottschalks that the department store is facing major economic troubles has the newspaper biting its nails,” the story said.

Publisher Tom Cross said that with the move to a three-day-a-week format, readers can expect a larger paper with expanded local coverage.

“We’re changing our focus to concentrate 100 percent of our efforts on local news and events,” he said.

The Register-Pajaronian is owned by News Media Corp. (no relation to MediaNews Group) based in Rochelle, Ill.