It appears that the starred "new post since last visit" posts in "system notices" are not going to the top of the list like they do in all the other forums.
The "System Notices" and "Comic Competitions" threads are sorted by the date of the initial post rather than by the date of the most recent post. The System Notices are sorted that way so that the notices are seen in the order that they have been posted, sorta like a change history. The Comic Competitions are sorted that way so that they stay in proper numerical order, thus theoretically making it easier to find a particular comic contest thread. I would prefer that they all be sorted by most recent post, but I haven't donated enough to convince Brad of that yet.