I think I have finally found the bug. It seems that if I use the power button, or use any of the buttons on the phone to silence the audible notification, the sound notification for everything will go away.
The crappy part is that I have to delete all of my alarms, and reset everything (the phone as well with volume down+power button) to get it to work again. But is working correctly now, as long as I remember to touch the scree - not the buttons ....
All other setting that folks have written about also have to be in place (ie: notification banners, etc) - However, I am able to use different ring-tones doing it this way ...