The recent wrench icon in the status bar is definitely in regards to updated google privacy settings.
Are you running a custom ROM? I am using TMS5, and had "Ongoing Notifications" hidden, which suppressed the ability to see what it was when swiping down. Once I turned the setting off, I could swipe down and accept the google policy notification. It drove me nuts for two weeks though...
Anyway, check if you have some custom setting suppressing or hiding status notifications.