It is actually happening again.
Specifically...
I applied the SQL code as instructed in here, and it fixed the ordering of the 3 panels I created.
I then created a 4th panel. No problems.
I then created a 5th panel, and that one renders to the top even though the specified integer of panel order sorting is "5" (the others are 1, 2, 3 and 4).
I tried applying the SQL again after creating the 5th panel, and no success.